Vassar College
Private College in Poughkeepsie, NY. Six-year graduation rate 91%. Median 10-year earnings $71,366.
Students who entered Vassar College reach a median of $71,366 ten years later, which puts this school in the upper band of undergraduate earnings outcomes. 91% graduate within six years, so most students who start here finish here. Graduates carry a median of $18,625 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.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.26 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ Graduation rate 91% — well above the national average
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
An acceptance rate of 19% means admission is the exception — plan accordingly. The applicant pool is large — 12,447 in the most recent cycle — so the published rate reflects genuine competition rather than a small-sample quirk. Yield sits at 29% — the remainder of admitted students enroll elsewhere or not at all. The score bands below rest on the 31% 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 | 730–770 | 208 (31%) |
| SAT Math | 720–780 | |
| ACT Composite | 33–35 | 83 (12%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Vassar College →Academics
A 91% six-year graduation rate is the strongest academic signal on this page. 95% of full-time first-years return for a second year — a healthy figure. At 7:1, 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. With 2,588 undergraduates, the school sits in the middle of the size distribution.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 2,574 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay $29,981 a year on average after aid, a premium price that the earnings data has to justify. The income table below is the number that matters — $15,953 at $0–30k versus $56,615 at $110k+. About 57% get grants averaging $54,250, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. About 39% borrow federally, roughly the national pattern.
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 · 686 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 | $15,953 |
| $30–48k | $14,548 |
| $48–75k | $14,126 |
| $75–110k | $25,773 |
| $110k+ | $56,615 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 1,003 of these 2,574 students, totalling $4,863,828 — an average of $4,849 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Dutchess 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)