College Azimuth

Research brief & institution hub

Marist University

NYMedium private nonprofit institution · Overall rank #987 nationally

Data snapshot Updated

Azimuth’s composite review puts Marist University in a mixed position.

Who it’s a good fit for

Marist University is a private nonprofit university in Poughkeepsie, New York, where Business is the largest program family. Return is well above average, but affordability is below the levels seen at many peers.

Graduates earn less than predicts for students like them. The model attributes an adding amount to the factors it measures and a subtracting amount to a remainder it cannot explain.

Affordability is below the levels seen at many peers, and the spread between what the lowest and highest income bands pay is wide. Pell students complete within a few points of the overall rate, but access is modestly below average and mobility sits around the average.

The admission rate is below the median for comparable institutions, and the degree mix leans heavily toward business and communication. A student drawn to the largest programs should know that the best-paid ones, like Economics and Computer Science, are much smaller.

Marist University at a glance

Admissions and outcomes

Admission rate[1]
56.5%
Six-year completion[2]
79.6%
Four-year earnings[3]
$78,561

Cost and family borrowing

Average annual net price · $48–75K family income[6]
$36,178
Median student debt[4]
$25,000
Median Parent PLUS debt[7]
$51,958

Marist University rankings: how Azimuth assesses value[5]

Marist University is a private nonprofit university in Poughkeepsie, New York, enrolling 5,182 undergraduates. Its composite standing sits in the middle third of the Azimuth ranking among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The university admits 56.5% of applicants, a rate well below the 71.2% median for comparable institutions of the same type and size. Among full-time first-year students, 86.1% return for a second year, compared with a median of 83.4% for similar schools.

The six-year graduation rate is 79.6%, against a peer median of 68.8%. An estimated 8.8% of entrants arrive as transfers or part-time students, so the graduation rate describes a majority of the student body but not all of it.

The four that make up the composite are spread wide. Return is the strongest, at the 82nd percentile, while affordability is the weakest, at the 3rd percentile.

Access and mobility sit in between, at the 38th and 50th percentiles respectively.

Return is the strongest part of the profile at Marist University, while affordability is its weakest pillar. Azimuth places return in the 82nd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions, with mobility in the 50th percentile and access in the 38th percentile. Affordability sits in the 3rd percentile.

Pell Grant recipients make up 14.4% of undergraduates at Marist University, the measure Azimuth uses for financial access. Among enrolled students who submitted SAT scores, the middle 50% scored between 1,190 and 1,340.

For the ACT, the middle half of submitted scores ranged from 25 to 31. Azimuth ranks Marist University #912 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Pell recipients complete at 74.9%, which falls below the overall six-year graduation rate by 4.7 percentage points (against 79.6% for the entering cohort as a whole). Azimuth ranks the university #734 for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $5,761 less than the model expects for similar students.

How value-added outcomes are assessed · How to interpret program rankings

Marist University rankings in context
GeographyRank
National#987

Azimuth overall value rankings within each geographic comparison group.

National pillar percentiles

Economic mobility
National percentile: 50
Access & reach
National percentile: 38
Affordability
National percentile: 3
Return on investment
National percentile: 82

01 / Marist University briefing

Marist University cost & financial aid[6][7]

The published price at Marist University remains high even after the average aid discount. Its standard cost of attendance is $67,574, including $47,750 for tuition and fees and $18,460 for room and board.

For aid recipients, the average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $41,544. That represents $26,030 off the published price, and aid covers about 39% of the published cost for the average aid recipient.

The net price is $14,173 above the peer median of $27,371 at comparable institutions (same type and size). Azimuth ranks the university #1,369 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

A net price above comparable institutions and that affordability placement point in the same direction.

The published cost of attendance at Marist University is $67,574. Azimuth ranks the university #1,369 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

After grants and scholarships, the average net price for aid recipients from families earning under $30,000 is $26,083, for those earning $48,001 to $75,000 it is $36,178, and for those earning over $110,000 it is $45,643. The spread between the lowest and highest bands is $19,560.

Aid covers about 39% of the published cost for the average aid recipient, leaving an of $41,544 across all bands. That is $14,173 above the median of $27,371 for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Borrowers who finish carry a median of $25,000 in federal student loans, $801 above the peer median of $24,199. 95.8% of federal aid recipients borrow federal loans.

Parents who borrow through the separate Parent PLUS program hold a median of $51,958. If repaid over ten years, the median federal student debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $284 a month.

Your family income

Choose a household income range to see estimated net price.

Reported average annual net price · $48–75K$36,178

After grants and scholarships. Your aid offer may differ.

Averages within each income band; individual aid packages vary.

Borrowing and repayment at Marist University

Federal borrowing reaches 95.8% of federal aid recipients at Marist University, so debt is a common part of the cost picture. Among federal-loan borrowers who complete, median federal student loan debt at completion is $25,000.

At comparable institutions (same type and size), the peer median federal debt is $24,199; Marist's median is above it by $801. For the separate population of Parent PLUS borrowers, median borrowing is $51,958.

Marist University pairs high earnings four years after completion with a less favorable model comparison. Federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled have median earnings of $78,561 four years after completion.

Azimuth places those earnings in the 87th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, point the other way.

Graduates earn about $5,761 less than the model expects for similar students. Azimuth places this measure in the 33rd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The earnings scenarios span $58,042 in the downside case, $78,561 in the typical case, and $101,704 in the upside case. Median federal student debt at completion is $25,000, above the $24,199 peer median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $284 a month if repaid over ten years. High observed earnings sit alongside debt above peers and earnings below the model’s expectation.

For the separate parent-borrower population using Parent PLUS, median federal borrowing is $51,958. For student borrowers, that debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $284 a month if repaid over ten years.

How Financial GPS measures payment burden · The four risk-and-reward zones

Financial GPS

What does repayment look like?

Institution median student debt
$25,000
Institution Parent PLUS debt
$51,958

Federal loans only; private or institutional loans aren’t included.

Estimated student payment · monthly
$284/mo
Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly
$660/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.

Explore your own numbers in Financial GPS
Read the full cost & aid brief

02 / Marist University briefing

Marist University career outcomes & earnings[3][8][9]

For federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled, Marist University has median earnings of $78,561 four years after completion. Azimuth places that earnings measure in the 87th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $68,250; Marist stands above it by $10,311. Azimuth puts the return pillar in the 82nd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

For earnings beyond expectations, graduates earn about $5,761 less than the model expects for similar students. That result is in the 33rd percentile.

The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $9,667. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $15,428.

The return picture is mixed: earnings sit above the peer median but fall short of the model’s expectation.

Marist University has a high earnings median four years after completion, but its earnings-beyond-expectations measure points the other way. Federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled have median earnings of $78,561 four years after completion.

Azimuth places this earnings figure in the 87th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions, based on an earnings cohort of 1,698 completers. Graduates earn about $5,761 less than the model expects for similar students.

Program-mix earnings scenarios include a typical outcome of $78,561 four years after completion. An estimated 26.3% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure estimated from the program mix.

The high earnings median and lower-than-expected model result pull in different directions.

Marist University has a mixed return picture. Median earnings are $78,561 four years after completion, placing the university in the 87th percentile.

The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $68,250, with Marist’s figure $10,311 above it. For earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, graduates earn about $5,761 less than the model expects for similar students.

That result is in the 33rd percentile. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $9,667.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $15,428. Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $941.

Earnings scenarios grounded in the program mix range from a downside of $58,042 to an upside of $101,704. Azimuth places the return pillar in the 82nd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The largest program, Business Administration and Management, awarded 270 degrees and had median earnings of $90,855 four years after completion. Higher-earning fields include Economics, with 21 degrees awarded and median earnings of $118,557, and Computer Science, with 46 degrees awarded and median earnings of $111,893.

The pattern pairs broad degree production in the first pair with higher earnings in the latter pair.

Earnings can differ sharply across earnings scenarios and fields at the university. The downside scenario is $58,042 four years after completion, while the upside scenario is $101,704; these are earnings scenarios based on the program mix rather than observed groups.

At Marist University, aid recipients face a higher price than peers despite borrowing that stays close to the peer norm. Average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $41,544, above the peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), of $27,371.

Aid covers about 39% of the published cost for the average aid recipient. Among borrowers who completed, median federal student loan debt is $25,000.

That is above the $24,199 peer median for comparable institutions (same type and size). That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $284 a month if repaid over ten years.

Graduates earn about $5,761 less than the model expects for similar students. Higher average net price and slightly above-peer debt sit alongside a less favorable model result.

What explains value-added earnings?
Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.
+$9,667
Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.
-$15,428
Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.
-$5,761

These are statistical model components, not proven causal effects; the remainder is not a direct measure of teaching quality.

Read the full outcomes brief

03 / Marist University briefing

Marist University acceptance rate & admissions[1][10][11]

Marist University admitted 56.5% of applicants, so more than half of the reported applicant pool received admission offers. That rate is below the median of 71.2% for comparable institutions (same type and size).

SAT: approximate enrolled-student range
Admission rate
56.5%
Approximate lower endpoint
1190
Reported average
1295
Approximate upper endpoint
1340

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.

Read the full admissions brief

04 / Marist University briefing

What are the largest majors at Marist University?[12]

The program picture has a clear high-earning end, while some of the university’s largest fields sit at more moderate medians. Economics reported median earnings of $118,557 four years after completion and 21 degrees awarded.

Computer Science posted $111,893 at the same horizon, with 46 degrees awarded. Among larger programs, Business Administration and Management recorded $90,855 four years after completion across 270 degrees awarded.

Psychology had a median of $62,821 and 96 degrees awarded. Those figures show that field choice corresponds with a wide range of early-career earnings at Marist University.

Business accounts for 32.1% of bachelor's degrees awarded, making it the largest program family in a school with earnings data for 21 bachelor's fields. Specialized Sales, Merchandising and Marketing Operations awarded 99 degrees and reported $74,534.

Psychology added 96 degrees awarded, with median earnings of $62,821. These large fields show different earnings levels four years after completion.

The bachelor's degree mix at Marist University is anchored in business, with Business accounting for 32.1% of degrees awarded. Communication & Journalism is the second-largest family at 15.1%, followed by Psychology at 9.7%.

Across 21 programs with published four-year earnings data, the largest single program is Business Administration and Management, which awards 270 degrees a year. Communication and Media Studies is next at 193 degrees awarded, and Specialized Sales, Merchandising and Marketing Operations awards 99.

The highest-earning program is a much smaller one: Economics graduates earn a median of $118,557 four years after completion, from 21 degrees awarded a year. Computer Science is the second-highest-earning, with a median of $111,893 and 46 degrees awarded.

Applied Mathematics and Accounting follow, with medians of $109,170 and $106,313 respectively, from 13 and 41 degrees awarded. The largest program, Business Administration and Management, has a median of $90,855.

The pattern is one of concentrated strength in business and a handful of high-earning outliers in quantitative fields. The highest-paid programs are small, while the largest programs deliver solid but less elevated earnings. STEM fields account for 15.7% of degrees awarded.

Four-year earnings · six largest reported fields
Business Administration, Management and Operations 270 degrees awarded
$90,855
Communication and Media Studies 193 degrees awarded
$74,726
Specialized Sales, Merchandising and Marketing Operations 99 degrees awarded
$74,534
Psychology, General 96 degrees awarded
$62,821
Criminal Justice and Corrections 63 degrees awarded
$65,881
Biology, General 54 degrees awarded
$81,936

Fields selected by reported completions. Counts describe credentials awarded, not unique students or the earnings sample. Bars show median four-year earnings.

Read the full majors brief

05 / Marist University briefing

How does Marist University serve students from different backgrounds?

Completion at Marist University exceeds the comparable-institution median, though the model’s earnings comparison is less favorable. For the first-time full-time cohort, the six-year graduation rate is 79.6%, and Pell recipients complete within six years at 74.9%, below the overall rate by 4.7 percentage points.

Azimuth places the mobility pillar in the 50th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $5,761 less than the model expects for similar students.

Earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, sits in the 33rd percentile. The completion picture is stronger than the model-based earnings comparison.

Marist University admits 56.5% of applicants and enrolls 5,182 undergraduates, setting the basic scale of access at this private nonprofit university. Pell Grant recipients make up 14.4% of undergraduates, and an estimated 8.8% enter as transfers or part-time students.

Azimuth places its access pillar in the 38th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The admission pattern, Pell share, and transfer estimate describe a campus with several routes into its undergraduate body.

06 / Marist University briefing

What colleges are similar to Marist University?[15]

Azimuth groups alternatives by admissions, location, cost and earnings, then orders candidates within each group. Peer earnings use the matched four-year cohort. How matching works.

A shortlist for different decisions

Choose a row to compare the figures with Marist University.

Admissions peerCUNY Bernard M Baruch College47.5% admitted
Comparison with Marist University
MeasureMarist UniversityCUNY Bernard M Baruch College
Peer earnings · 4 years$78,561$82,748+$4,187 vs Marist University
Average annual net price$41,544$3,033-$38,511 vs Marist University · lower cost
Admission rate56.5%47.5%
Explore CUNY Bernard M Baruch College →
Higher-admission alternativeSt. John's University-New York83.4% admitted
Comparison with Marist University
MeasureMarist UniversitySt. John's University-New York
Peer earnings · 4 years$78,561$77,868-$693 vs Marist University
Average annual net price$41,544$29,999-$11,545 vs Marist University · lower cost
Admission rate56.5%83.4%
Explore St. John's University-New York →
Nearby alternativeSt. John's University-New YorkNearby option · NY
Comparison with Marist University
MeasureMarist UniversitySt. John's University-New York
Peer earnings · 4 years$78,561$77,868-$693 vs Marist University
Average annual net price$41,544$29,999-$11,545 vs Marist University · lower cost
Admission rate56.5%83.4%
Explore St. John's University-New York →
Higher-earnings alternativeStevens Institute of Technology$112,538 earnings
Comparison with Marist University
MeasureMarist UniversityStevens Institute of Technology
Peer earnings · 4 years$78,561$112,538+$33,977 vs Marist University
Average annual net price$41,544$41,346-$198 vs Marist University · lower cost
Admission rate56.5%47.6%
Explore Stevens Institute of Technology →
Lower-cost alternativeCUNY Bernard M Baruch College$3,033 average net price
Comparison with Marist University
MeasureMarist UniversityCUNY Bernard M Baruch College
Peer earnings · 4 years$78,561$82,748+$4,187 vs Marist University
Average annual net price$41,544$3,033-$38,511 vs Marist University · lower cost
Admission rate56.5%47.5%
Explore CUNY Bernard M Baruch College →
Similar profileDuquesne UniversityMatched across several measures
Comparison with Marist University
MeasureMarist UniversityDuquesne University
Peer earnings · 4 years$78,561$74,665-$3,896 vs Marist University
Average annual net price$41,544$37,730-$3,814 vs Marist University · lower cost
Admission rate56.5%83.6%
Explore Duquesne University →

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.

Read the full similar schools brief

Data scope & methodology

Structured payloads generated Governed hub narrative Governed spoke corpus

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.

Read the ranking methodology, data definitions and limitations · About College Azimuth

Read the analysis behind value-added earnings and the change to four-year graduate earnings. These articles are published on collegeazimuth.com.

Data notes & source fields

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.

  1. Admission rate. Reported applicants admitted; not a transfer-specific or individual admission probability.

    Source fields: ADM_RATE

  2. 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

  3. 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

  4. 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

  5. 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.

    Source fields: Azimuth rankings

    College Azimuth · Ranking methodology

  6. 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

  7. 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.

    Source fields: PLUS_DEBT_ALL_COMP_MD; fallback PLUS_DEBT_ALL_MD; Azimuth Financial GPS calculations

    College Azimuth · Financial GPS methodology

  8. 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.

    Source fields: Azimuth modeled program-mix scenarios

    College Azimuth · Earnings scenario methodology

  9. 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.

    Source fields: Azimuth statistical model

    College Azimuth · Value-added methodology

  10. 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.

    Source fields: SATVR25 + SATMT25; SATVR75 + SATMT75; SAT_AVG

  11. First-year retention. Retention of the reported full-time cohort at four-year institutions.

    Source fields: RET_FT4

  12. 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.

    Source fields: EARN_MDN_4YR; IPEDSCOUNT1; CIPCODE

    College Scorecard · Field-of-study technical documentation

  13. Pell recipients. Share of undergraduates receiving a Pell Grant in the reported academic year.

    Source fields: PCTPELL

  14. 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

  15. 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

    College Azimuth · Comparison methodology

How to interpret program rankings