NY · Large public institution · Overall rank #20 nationally
Data snapshot · Updated
A school in New York with a #20 national rank.
Who it’s a good fit for
CUNY Hunter College is a public university in New York whose degree mix is led by Psychology, Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies, and Social Sciences. Affordability and access are among the highest we track.
Graduates out-earn what predicts for students like them, and the model attributes more of that to a remainder it does not explain than to the factors it measures. Return is well above average, and the typical graduate earns above the median at comparable schools.
The lowest income band pays below the published cost, and the highest band also pays below the published cost. Pell students complete below the overall rate, and mobility is among the highest we track.
The admission rate is below the median for comparable schools, and most graduates are estimated to go into work rather than on to further study. A student drawn to the largest programs should go in knowing that the highest-earning ones are not the largest.
Hunter College rankings: how Azimuth assesses value[5]
CUNY Hunter College is a public university in New York, New York, enrolling 16,289 undergraduates. Its composite standing is near the very top of the Azimuth ranking, with three in the high nineties and return at the 87th percentile.
CUNY Hunter College admits 53.8% of applicants, well below the 78.1% median for comparable public institutions of similar size. Of students who start full time, 77.6% return for a second year and 56.9% finish within six years.
Medians for comparable institutions are 83.1% for retention and 65.0% for completion. An estimated 29.7% of undergraduates arrive as transfers or part-time students, so a substantial part of the student body did not begin here.
Affordability and access are the strongest pillars, with mobility close behind. Return is the weakest of the four, but the spread between the pillars is narrow.
The shape is a public university that keeps costs low and serves a broad student body, with earnings that are solid but not the headline.
Azimuth ranks CUNY Hunter College #20 among 1,467 nonprofit four-year institutions. The strongest pillar is affordability, at the 99th percentile, followed closely by access at the 99th percentile.
Mobility reaches the 97th percentile, and the return pillar sits at the 87th percentile.
55.9% of undergraduates receive Pell Grants. The middle 50% of submitted SAT scores fell between 1,100 and 1,420, a range that describes the enrolled students who provided scores.
Azimuth ranks CUNY Hunter College #20 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions. Pell recipients complete at 46.2%, which is 10.7 percentage points below the rate for the entering cohort as a whole.
Azimuth ranks the university #47 for mobility. Graduates earn about $16,928 more than the model expects for similar students, a result that coincides with the mobility pillar's strength.
CUNY Hunter College publishes a cost of attendance of $13,905, an average across living arrangements. In-state tuition and fees are $7,382, and out-of-state are $15,332.
Room and board adds $11,832 to the sticker budget. For the average aid recipient, the net price falls to $2,984, a savings of $10,921 against the published total.
Aid covers about 79% of the sticker cost for that group. That sits below the peer median of $15,634 for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $12,650.
Azimuth ranks CUNY Hunter College #19 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions. For families earning under $30,000, the average net price is $1,029.
CUNY Hunter College publishes a cost of attendance of $13,905, an average across living arrangements. In-state tuition and fees are $7,382, and room and board is $11,832.
For aid recipients, the average net price—what families pay after grants and scholarships—is far lower. Families earning under $30,000 face an average net price of $1,029; for those in the $48,001–$75,000 band it is $6,003, and for families earning over $110,000 it is $12,259.
The spread between the lowest and highest bands is $11,230. Azimuth ranks the university #19 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.
Aid covers about 79% of the published cost for the average aid recipient, a savings of $10,921 against the sticker price. The average net price across all aid recipients is $2,984, which sits below the peer median of $15,634 for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $12,650.
Out-of-state students see a higher published tuition of $15,332, though individual aid packages can shift the final cost. Graduates who borrow federal loans leave with a median federal student debt of $11,000, and about 22.5% of federal aid recipients take federal loans.
That median is below the peer median of $20,076 for comparable institutions by $9,076. For a graduate at the median four-year earnings of $73,236, that debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $125 a month if repaid over ten years.
Parent PLUS borrowing, a separate population, carries a median of $20,252.
Your family income
Choose a household income range to see estimated net price.
Reported average annual net price · $48–75K$6,003
After grants and scholarships. Your aid offer may differ.
Averages within each income band; individual aid packages vary.
Borrowing and repayment at Hunter College
Completers who used federal loans leave CUNY Hunter College with a median debt of $11,000. Federal borrowing is limited in scope: just 22.5% of federal aid recipients take out these loans, so most leave without federal borrower obligations.
Relative to the $20,076 median at comparable institutions (same type and size), this figure is below by $9,076. The median Parent PLUS obligation, measured among a separate parent-borrower population, is $20,252.
Four years after completion, federally aided completers at CUNY Hunter College who are working and not enrolled record median earnings of $73,236. That amount falls in the 81st percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions and sits above the $65,610 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).
These completers earn about $16,928 more than the model expects for similar students, an outcome Azimuth places in the 93rd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Earnings scenarios anchored to the program mix suggest a typical earnings level of $73,236, alongside a downside scenario of $53,483 and an upside scenario of $96,143.
The median federal debt among completers who borrowed is $11,000, which sits below the $20,076 median for comparable institutions (same type and size). If repaid over ten years, the median federal debt yields a monthly payment of $125.
Median Parent PLUS borrowing, a separate parent-borrower population, is $20,252. The estimated monthly student payment if repaid over ten years is $125.
Federal loans only; private or institutional loans aren’t included.
Estimated student payment · monthly
$125/mo
Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly
$257/mo
Payments use school-wide median balances, not a specific major’s.
Payment assumptions
Payments are 10-year standard payments on the median balance, before loan fees, used as a yardstick. Rates for newly issued loans may differ, and loans made after July 1, 2026 can repay over a longer term; existing loans keep their original fixed rates.
CUNY Hunter College reports median earnings of $73,236 four years after completion. That institution-wide figure is a starting point; results for particular fields can differ.
Read earnings alongside retention and completion. Earnings among completers do not include every student who entered the institution, while the lower and higher planning estimates describe modeled mixes of program outcomes rather than observed salary percentiles.
What explains value-added earnings?
Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.
+$2,478
Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.
+$14,450
Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.
+$16,928
These are statistical model components, not proven causal effects; the remainder is not a direct measure of teaching quality.
CUNY Hunter College admits 53.8% of applicants, a figure that sits well below the median of 78.1% for comparable institutions (same type and size).
SAT: approximate enrolled-student range
Admission rate
53.8%
Approximate lower endpoint
1100
Reported average
1280
Approximate upper endpoint
1420
Enrolled students who submitted scores. This range is not an admission cutoff. The endpoints add section percentiles; they are not verified composite-score percentiles. A separate SAT-equivalent average is not plotted as a median. Source: College Scorecard; sum of section 25th/75th percentiles; enrolled score-submitters.
The largest program records at CUNY Hunter College, by reported degrees awarded, are: Psychology, General (673 awards); Human Biology (442 awards); Computer Science (276 awards); English Language and Literature, General (194 awards); Biology, General (191 awards). These counts describe degree output in the source reporting period, not current enrollment or unique people.
Among those larger programs, reported median earnings four years after completion include Psychology, General at $59,149; Human Biology at $83,420; Computer Science at $102,321. Program size and earnings answer different questions; the largest program need not have the highest earnings.
Keep individual program records separate from broader degree categories and from records for other reporting periods. Those views can describe different parts of the university’s academic mix.
Four-year earnings · six largest reported fields
Psychology, General 673 degrees awarded
$59,149
Human Biology 442 degrees awarded
$83,420
Computer Science 276 degrees awarded
$102,321
English Language and Literature, General 194 degrees awarded
$55,759
Biology, General 191 degrees awarded
$59,204
Sociology 188 degrees awarded
$57,965
Fields selected by reported completions. Counts describe credentials awarded, not unique students or the earnings sample. Bars show median four-year earnings.
How does Hunter College serve students from different backgrounds?
Azimuth places CUNY Hunter College in the 97th percentile for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions. The six-year graduation rate for the first-time full-time cohort is 56.9%, while Pell recipients complete at 46.2% — below the overall rate by 10.7 percentage points.
Graduates earn about $16,928 more than the model expects for similar students, a result that sits in the 93rd percentile nationally.
Azimuth places the access pillar of CUNY Hunter College in the 99th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The public university admits 53.8% of applicants, well below the peer median of 78.1%, and enrolls 16,289 undergraduates.
Pell Grant recipients make up 55.9% of the undergraduate body, and an estimated 29.7% of students arrive as transfers or part-time students.
The comparisons for CUNY Hunter College cover higher reported admission rates, similar admissions profiles, higher reported earnings at similar cost and options in the same state or region. The similar-schools brief keeps these questions in separate groups, with related institutional profiles shown as another comparison.
Each group has its own candidate list and ordering. A high position within one group is not a rank against all the schools in the other groups, and a school can appear more than once for different reasons. Check the source definition and earnings period for the comparison you choose.
A shortlist for different decisions
Choose a row to compare the figures with Hunter College.
Each school is the first-ranked match in its category, not a recommendation across every measure. The same college may lead more than one category. Figures use the matching snapshot; earnings reflect the matched four-year cohort. — means unavailable.
Four-year earnings describe cohorts of completers. Figures for other horizons describe different cohorts and are not joined into a career-growth projection.
Azimuth's overall rank and pillar percentiles come from the school profile. Absolute pillar ranks, city, enrollment and official-site links are shown only when structured data supplies them.
Detailed earnings, cost, admissions and program values come from the endpoint responsible for each measure. Missing values are not replaced with zero. Value-added estimates are model associations, not causal effects.
Figures are refreshed with each data release, at most a quarter apart. The underlying source dates can be earlier than the release.
Explanatory text is AI-assisted drafting checked against those figures; it is not an additional data source.
Analysis and methodology by Daniel Rogers, founder of College Azimuth.
Scorecard field codes identify the underlying measure; Azimuth-derived values are labeled separately. Snapshot dates are not measurement years. Source populations and reporting periods differ across measures. Field definitions are in the U.S. Department of Education · College Scorecard documentation; notes with a different source link it below.
Admission rate. Reported applicants admitted; not a transfer-specific or individual admission probability.
Source fields: ADM_RATE
Six-year completion. First-time, full-time students completing at the institution within 150% of normal time, typically six years for a bachelor’s degree.
Source fields: C150_4
Four-year institutional earnings. Median earnings of graduates in the reported cohort who are working and not enrolled, four years after completion.
Source fields: MD_EARN_WNE_4YR
Median federal student debt. Federal student-loan debt among completers in the reported borrowing cohort. Excludes Parent PLUS and is not total debt across all students.
Source fields: GRAD_DEBT_MDN
National, regional and state ranks; pillar percentiles; major ranks. Derived scores within the stated eligible comparison set, not raw Scorecard fields. Major ranks compare institutions within a field; their denominators differ.
Annual net price by family income. Average annual cost after grants and scholarships for the eligible first-time, full-time aid-recipient cohort. Public-school figures reflect in-state tuition. Includes living costs; these are averages, not medians or individual offers.
Source fields: NPT4_PUB/PRIV; NPT41_PUB/PRIV through NPT45_PUB/PRIV
Parent PLUS debt, payments and GPS illustration. Stored payments use Financial GPS loan and repayment assumptions. The adjustable spectrum applies the published framework to annual student payments divided by earnings minus an expense allowance; its initial allowance uses the frozen 2024 framework baseline. It is an illustration rather than a school rating. Parent PLUS uses the completer median where available, otherwise the all-borrower median; these describe different borrowing populations.
Downside and upside earnings; yellow band. The band spans the modeled lower and higher scenarios. It is not the P25–P75 interval for individual graduates. The median marker is the separately reported institutional median.
Value added and its components. Observed-factor attribution plus the unexplained remainder equals total modeled value added. These are associations, not proven causal effects; the remainder is not a direct measure of teaching quality.
SAT score range and reported midpoint. Reported scores of enrolled score-submitters, not admission cutoffs. The midpoint field is not necessarily the middle of the displayed range.
First-year retention. Retention of the reported full-time cohort at four-year institutions.
Source fields: RET_FT4
Program earnings, completion counts and major-mix dots. Included bachelor’s programs have at least five reported completions. Counts are aggregated credentials, not unique people or an earnings sample. Major-mix dots group those counts by field of study; excluded programs are not zero activity.
Pell recipients. Share of undergraduates receiving a Pell Grant in the reported academic year.
Source fields: PCTPELL
Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group. This is not an observed transfer-in rate. It includes part-time entrants and other entering-student attendance patterns.
Source fields: 1 − PFTFTUG1_EF
Peer earnings and signed differences. Differences are peer minus this school, from the same matching snapshot. A positive earnings difference does not mean the peer is better on every measure.
Source fields: Azimuth peer model using MD_EARN_WNE_4YR