University of
Puerto Rico-Carolina
Public College in Carolina, PR. Six-year graduation rate 39%. Median 10-year earnings $30,626.
Median earnings ten years after entry come to $30,626, below what most undergraduate institutions return — the central fact to weigh against cost here. Only 39% finish within six years, so roughly three in five students leave without the credential they enrolled for. Borrowing stays contained, with median debt at graduation of $5,500.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.18 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
University of Puerto Rico-Carolina admits 55% of applicants and is genuinely selective — roughly one in two applicants are turned away. 1,764 applications came in, enough to make the rates below reasonably stable year to year. 71% of admitted students actually enroll, which is a high yield by national standards. Read the score bands below as the middle 50% of submitted scores, not a threshold to clear.
Test score bands (middle 50% of submitters)
These bands describe the enrolled first-years who submitted a score, not the entering class. Where most students apply test-optional the submitters are a self-selected, higher-scoring group.
| Test | 25th–75th percentile | Submitted |
|---|---|---|
| SAT Evidence-Based Reading | 411–538 | 668 (99%) |
| SAT Math | 398–519 | |
| ACT Composite | — | — |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at University of Puerto Rico-Carolina →Academics
Only 39% finish within six years, so roughly three in five students leave without the credential. Retention of 71% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. The distance between those two figures is the part worth noticing — students return for a second year at a much higher rate than they graduate, so attrition here is spread across the middle years rather than concentrated in the first. 22% transfer out. IPEDS does not follow them, so whether they finished elsewhere is not recorded either way. A 20:1 ratio is unremarkable; expect a mix of lecture halls and seminars.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 2,335 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $12,596 annually, well below typical undergraduate net price. Net price varies modestly by income — $12,287 at $0–30k against $18,229 at $110k+ — so the average is a fair guide for most families. Grant aid reaches 81% of students at an average of $6,498. Only 4% take federal loans. Private borrowing is not captured in this figure.
Entering first-year students
A different, smaller group than the rates above: full-time students in their first year of college anywhere. The grant series here also excludes the "other sources" counted in the all-undergraduate figure, so the two are not comparable.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 709 students
Net price by family income
The same students as the headline above, limited to those who received Title IV federal aid — a narrower group, with a lower overall average. IPEDS publishes no combined figure across these bands, so they should not be averaged into one.
| Family income band | Average net price |
|---|---|
| $0–30k | $12,287 |
| $30–48k | $13,001 |
| $48–75k | $15,267 |
| $75–110k | $16,900 |
| $110k+ | $18,229 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 82 of these 2,335 students, totalling $284,832 — an average of $3,474 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Carolina Municipio) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)