University of
San Diego
Private Research University in San Diego, CA. Six-year graduation rate 84%. Median 10-year earnings $86,522.
Ten-year median earnings of $86,522 are the headline number here, and they are strong ones. 84% graduate within six years, so most students who start here finish here. Graduates carry a median of $22,940 in debt — in line with the national norm. It also moves people — 2.3% of students climb from the bottom fifth of the income distribution to the top.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.27 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ Graduation rate 84% — well above the national average
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
University of San Diego admits 52% of applicants and is genuinely selective — roughly one in two applicants are turned away. With 17,008 applications received, this is a school operating at national scale. Yield is low at 12%, so most admitted students do not end up enrolling.
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 | — | — |
| SAT Math | — | |
| ACT Composite | — | — |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at University of San Diego →Academics
84% of students finish within six years, putting completion well above the national norm. 91% of full-time first-years return for a second year — a healthy figure. The 13:1 student-faculty ratio is small enough that seminar-sized classes are the norm. As a private nonprofit four-year college, the relevant comparison is other four-year schools rather than the national average across all institutions. 5,726 undergraduates makes this a mid-sized institution.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 5,619 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price — what students actually pay after grant aid — is $37,918 a year, at the high end of undergraduate cost. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $15,586 while those at $110k+ pay $46,989. 76% of students receive grant aid, averaging $37,818 — common but not automatic. 33% of students take federal loans, a middling borrowing rate.
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 · 1,244 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 | $15,586 |
| $30–48k | $17,441 |
| $48–75k | $19,557 |
| $75–110k | $27,012 |
| $110k+ | $46,989 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 1,855 of these 5,619 students, totalling $11,898,390 — an average of $6,414 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (San Diego 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)