University of
Wisconsin-La Crosse
Public College in La Crosse, WI. Six-year graduation rate 71%. Median 10-year earnings $60,378.
Ten-year median earnings of $60,378 are the headline number here, and they are strong ones. Completion is a strength: 71% of students finish within six years. Graduates carry a median of $22,500 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
Admissions
76% of applicants get in, so the odds favor most reasonably prepared students. 7,136 students applied in the most recent cycle — a mid-sized pool drawn mostly from the surrounding region. 43% of admitted students actually enroll, which is a high yield by national standards. Read the score bands below narrowly: only 34% of enrolled first-years submitted an ACT score, and test-optional applicants are not represented in them.
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 | 22–27 | 794 (34%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at University of Wisconsin-La Crosse →Academics
71% of students finish within six years, putting completion well above the national norm. First-year retention of 87% shows the cohort holds together through the hardest year. Retention and graduation track closely, so most of the attrition shows up in the first year rather than after it. Retention drops to 50% for part-time students, a gap worth weighing if full-time study is not realistic. At 20:1, class sizes land in the normal range for an undergraduate institution.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 9,194 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
At $14,712 a year on average after grant aid, cost is low here relative to most undergraduate institutions. The income table below is the number that matters — $8,224 at $0–30k versus $18,991 at $110k+. Only 45% of students receive grant aid, so most families are paying near the published price. 43% 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 · 2,291 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 | $8,224 |
| $30–48k | $8,766 |
| $48–75k | $10,608 |
| $75–110k | $17,394 |
| $110k+ | $18,991 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 3,964 of these 9,194 students, totalling $23,372,717 — an average of $5,896 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (La Crosse 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)