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Private College

Utica University

Private College in Utica, NY. Six-year graduation rate 56%. Median 10-year earnings $63,277.

Verdict Solid outcomes
Utica University · Campus
Median earnings · 10 yr
$63,277
Median debt at grad
$22,500
Mobility score
5.0
% bottom→top quintile
Graduation rate
56.2%
Federal loan default
0%

A decade after enrolling, the median Utica University student earns $63,277 — comfortably above what the typical bachelor's-granting institution returns. 56% finish within six years — respectable, though a meaningful share still leave without a credential. Graduates carry a median of $22,500 in debt — in line with the national norm. On economic mobility, 5.0% of students travel from the bottom income quintile to the top.

Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.

Green Flags
  • 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Red Flags

Admissions

Acceptance rate
92%
Applicants
3,703
Yield rate
12.7%

Utica University admits 92% of applicants — effectively open admission, so the application is a formality rather than a hurdle. 3,703 students applied in the most recent cycle — a mid-sized pool drawn mostly from the surrounding region. Only 13% of admitted students enroll — the great majority of admits go elsewhere or nowhere. The score bands below rest on the 3% of enrolled first-years who submitted an SAT score — a self-selected group, and not a cutoff.

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 480–660 11 (3%)
SAT Math 510–590
ACT Composite

IPEDS Admissions · 2024

Apply at Utica University →

Academics

Full-time retention
71%
Transfer-out rate
6%
Student:faculty
12:1

Completion is middling: 56% finish inside six years. Retention of 71% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. The two rates sit near each other: few students who return for a second year are missing from the six-year completion figure. At 12:1, students get materially more instructor contact than at a typical public university. As a private nonprofit four-year college, the relevant comparison is other four-year schools rather than the national average across all institutions.

Financial Aid

Average net price
$20,295
Full-time, first-time undergraduates paying the in-state rate who were awarded grant or scholarship aid
% receiving grants
79%
degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
% receiving federal loans
68%
degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 2,485 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates

Average net price after grant aid is $20,295 a year — mid-range for a four-year institution. Net price swings hard on family income here, from $13,290 at the $0–30k band to $26,685 at $110k+. Grant aid reaches 79% of students at an average of $14,076. Borrowing is widespread: 68% take federal loans.

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.

% receiving grants
99%
Average grant
$16,758

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 577 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 $13,290
$30–48k $14,518
$48–75k $16,439
$75–110k $20,217
$110k+ $26,685

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24

Federal student loans went to 1,689 of these 2,485 students, totalling $17,884,825 — an average of $10,589 each.

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24

Local housing costs

Typical rents near campus (Oneida County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.

Studio
$899/mo
1 bedroom
$926/mo
2 bedroom (whole unit)
$1,172/mo

HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026

Veterans & GI Bill

VA caution flag

Heightened Cash Monitoring (Financial Responsibility); School placed on Heightened Cash Monitoring

GI Bill students
121
Yellow Ribbon
Yes
Principles of Excellence
Yes

VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)

Compare Utica University with peer institutions

How we evaluate Utica University

IPEDS
US Department of Education
College Scorecard
Post-grad earnings
Census PSEO
Earnings by major
Opportunity Insights
Mobility by institution
Read our full methodology →