University of
Puget Sound
Private College in Tacoma, WA. Six-year graduation rate 68%. Median 10-year earnings $69,594.
Students who entered University of Puget Sound reach a median of $69,594 ten years later, which puts this school in the upper band of undergraduate earnings outcomes. The six-year graduation rate of 68% is well above average and the clearest sign this school holds onto its students. Graduates carry a median of $25,000 in debt — in line with the national norm.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Mobility score 0.7 — limited economic uplift documented
Admissions
University of Puget Sound accepts 72% of applicants, which makes it accessible to most students who meet the baseline requirements. 5,239 students applied in the most recent cycle — a mid-sized pool drawn mostly from the surrounding region. A 11% yield rate is low: the admitted pool is much larger than the entering class. 31% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score. The bands below describe the middle half of that group, not of the class.
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 | 610–710 | 135 (31%) |
| SAT Math | 560–670 | |
| ACT Composite | 27–31 | 41 (10%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at University of Puget Sound →Academics
A 68% six-year graduation rate is the strongest academic signal on this page. Retention is strong at 84%, and first-year attrition is where most degrees are lost. The two rates sit near each other: few students who return for a second year are missing from the six-year completion figure. A 15% transfer-out rate accounts for part of that gap: those students left for another institution rather than dropping out, and the graduation rate above counts them as non-completers here. At 10:1, students get materially more instructor contact than at a typical public university.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,631 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price — what students actually pay after grant aid — is $43,188 a year, at the high end of undergraduate cost. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $23,643 while those at $110k+ pay $45,456. Most students get help: 99% receive grants worth $36,396 on average. Federal borrowing reaches 43% of students.
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 · 463 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 | $23,643 |
| $30–48k | $23,133 |
| $48–75k | $31,649 |
| $75–110k | $34,870 |
| $110k+ | $45,456 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 704 of these 1,631 students, totalling $4,414,346 — an average of $6,270 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Pierce County) — 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)