College Azimuth

Research brief & institution hub

Skidmore College

NYMedium private nonprofit institution · Overall rank #1091 nationally

Data snapshot Updated

Azimuth places Skidmore College in the 26th percentile overall.

Who it’s a good fit for

Skidmore College is a private nonprofit university in Saratoga Springs, New York, where the degree mix is led by Social Sciences, Business, and Visual & Performing Arts. Mobility is the strongest , at above average.

Graduates earn less than predicts for students like them. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures adds to expected earnings, while the part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts from them.

Pell recipients complete at a rate above the cohort as a whole, and mobility is above average. But affordability is below the levels seen at many peers, and the spread between what the lowest and highest income bands pay is wide.

The admission rate is well below the median for comparable institutions. A student drawn to the largest programs should know that the best-paid one, Computer and Information Sciences, awards far fewer degrees than Business or Psychology.

Skidmore College at a glance

Admissions and outcomes

Admission rate[1]
21.0%
Six-year completion[2]
82.6%
Four-year earnings[3]
$61,281

Cost and family borrowing

Average annual net price · $48–75K family income[6]
$15,855
Median student debt[4]
$19,500
Median Parent PLUS debt[7]
$60,000

Skidmore College rankings: how Azimuth assesses value[5]

Skidmore College is a private nonprofit university in Saratoga Springs, New York, enrolling 2,694 undergraduates. Its composite standing sits in the lower quarter of nonprofit four-year institutions, with the four pillars spread widely apart.

The university admits 21.1% of applicants, a rate far below the 71.2% median for comparable institutions of the same type and size. Once enrolled, students tend to stay and finish: 89.6% return after the first year and 82.6% complete within six years.

Those figures run above the medians for comparable institutions, which are 83.4% and 68.8%. An estimated 4.3% of undergraduates arrive as transfers or part-time students, so nearly all students start here as first-year entrants.

Mobility is the strongest pillar, and affordability the weakest by a wide margin, with access and return falling between them. The shape is a selective private college whose students graduate at high rates, while the published cost of attendance is substantial.

Mobility gives Skidmore College its clearest pillar result, though affordability is a pronounced weak point for families weighing cost. Its mobility pillar stands in the 58th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Azimuth places access in the 52nd percentile and return in the 29th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Affordability is the weakest pillar, at the 12th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The stronger mobility and access results sit alongside a much weaker affordability reading.

12.8% of undergraduates receive Pell Grants, the federal aid measure used here for financial access. Azimuth ranks Skidmore College #706 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Pell recipients complete at 88.0%, 5.4 percentage points above the rate for the entering cohort as a whole (82.6%). Both figures come from the first-time full-time cohort measured within six years.

That completion outcome, alongside the share of undergraduates receiving the grants, is what the access pillar captures. Azimuth ranks the university #615 for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Graduates earn about $19,432 less than the model expects for similar students, a measure of earnings beyond expectations that compares actual pay with what the model predicts for similar students. That result coincides with the mobility pillar's standing.

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

Skidmore College rankings in context
GeographyRank
National#1,091

Azimuth overall value rankings within each geographic comparison group.

National pillar percentiles

Economic mobility
National percentile: 58
Access & reach
National percentile: 52
Affordability
National percentile: 12
Return on investment
National percentile: 29

01 / Skidmore College briefing

Skidmore College cost & financial aid[6][7]

For aid recipients, the price after grants remains higher than at comparable colleges. Skidmore College lists a published cost of attendance of $85,270, with tuition and fees of $67,290 and room and board of $17,940.

Average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $32,297; average aid savings against the sticker price are $52,973. The peer median net price is $27,371 at comparable institutions (same type and size), leaving the college $4,926 above that benchmark.

Azimuth places the college in the 12th percentile for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions. The high published cost and above-peer point in the same direction.

Skidmore College lists a published cost of attendance of $85,270, with average net prices that vary widely across family-income bands. The average net price is $9,932 in the lowest band, $11,454 in the lower-middle band, $15,855 in the middle band, $22,438 in the upper-middle band, and $45,136 in the highest band.

The gap from the lowest to the highest band is $35,204, a difference of averages rather than what any family pays. Among nonprofit four-year institutions, Azimuth ranks the college #1,250 for affordability.

For the average aid recipient, aid covers about 62% of the published cost, offsetting $52,973 against the sticker price. Across all aid recipients, the average net price is $32,297.

Published tuition and fees are $67,290, and room and board are $17,940. The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $27,371; the college’s average net price sits $4,926 above that figure.

Aid lowers the listed price, but the overall average remains above the peer median. Federal borrowing is common at the college, yet borrowers who complete leave with less debt than the peer median.

Median federal student loan debt at completion is $19,500, and 89.1% of federal aid recipients borrow federal loans. The peer median at comparable institutions (same type and size) is $24,199, which puts the college’s figure $4,699 below it.

Median Parent PLUS borrowing is $60,000. The median federal student debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $222 a month if repaid over ten years.

Your family income

Choose a household income range to see estimated net price.

Reported average annual net price · $48–75K$15,855

After grants and scholarships. Your aid offer may differ.

Averages within each income band; individual aid packages vary.

Borrowing and repayment at Skidmore College

At Skidmore College, federal debt sits below the peer median, though federal borrowing is widespread. Among completers who borrowed federal loans, median debt at completion was $19,500.

At comparable institutions (same type and size), the peer median is $24,199, leaving Skidmore's figure $4,699 below it. For the separate parent-borrower population, median Parent PLUS borrowing is $60,000.

In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported average cumulative borrowing from any source of $27,000 per borrower. That report lists averages of $24,019 for federal borrowers and $39,200 for private borrowers.

Skidmore College pairs lower student borrowing with an investment picture shaped by mixed earnings measures. Four years after completion, federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled have median earnings of $61,281, which Azimuth places in the 55th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Graduates earn about $19,432 less than the model expects for similar students. Azimuth places that measure in the 4th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The earnings scenarios range from $47,250 in a downside scenario to $85,884 in an upside scenario, with $61,281 as the typical scenario. Median federal student loan debt of $19,500 is $4,699 below the $24,199 peer median at comparable institutions of the same type and size.

That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $222 a month if repaid over ten years. Lower borrowing than peers sits alongside earnings that fall short of the model’s expectation.

For parent borrowers, a separate population from student borrowers, median Parent PLUS borrowing was $60,000. For student borrowers who completed, that debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $222 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
$19,500
Institution Parent PLUS debt
$60,000

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

Estimated student payment · monthly
$222/mo
Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly
$762/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 / Skidmore College briefing

Skidmore College career outcomes & earnings[3][8][9]

At Skidmore College, the four-year earnings picture falls below both the peer median and the model’s expectation. Federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled have median earnings of $61,281 four years after completion, placing earnings in the 55th percentile.

The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $68,250, and the college’s figure is $6,969 below it. Graduates earn about $19,432 less than the model expects for similar students.

That earnings-beyond-expectations result is in the 4th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $2,928.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $22,360. Azimuth places the return pillar in the 29th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The peer comparison, model result, and return standing point in the same direction.

Skidmore College presents a mixed earnings picture, with its overall median near the middle of nonprofit four-year institutions. Among federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled, median earnings are $61,281 four years after completion.

Azimuth places that measure in the 55th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions, based on an earnings cohort of 386 completers. The program-mix model sets a typical earnings scenario at $61,281, with a downside scenario of $47,250 and an upside scenario of $85,884.

An estimated 38.2% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure estimated from the program mix rather than observed enrollment. The middle-of-the-pack overall earnings measure sits beside a wide range of earnings scenarios.

For federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled, Skidmore College has $61,281 in median earnings four years after completion, at the 55th percentile and below the peer median. The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $68,250, leaving $6,969 below that reference point.

Graduates earn about $19,432 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, is in the 4th percentile.

Azimuth places the return pillar in the 29th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Earnings scenarios grounded in the program mix range from $47,250 in the downside scenario to $85,884 in the upside scenario.

The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $2,928. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $22,360.

Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $1,893. The peer comparison and model result point in the same direction, even as the scenarios span different program mixes.

Program earnings vary across the fields with published results. Computer and Information Sciences is the highest-earning listed field, with 19 degrees awarded and median earnings of $104,708 four years after completion.

The largest program, Business/Commerce, awarded 87 degrees and has median earnings of $93,229 at the same point. The larger listed programs therefore include both considerably higher and lower earnings figures.

Program choice corresponds with a broad range of modeled earnings outcomes at Skidmore College. These earnings scenarios run from $47,250 on the downside to $85,884 on the upside, rather than describing observed groups of graduates.

The typical earnings scenario is $61,281. At the program level, median earnings four years after completion are $104,708 in Computer and Information Sciences, $93,229 in Business/Commerce, and $69,091 in Political Science. Those figures help show why the modeled range is wide.

The value picture at Skidmore College is mixed. Median debt is below the peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size).

But net price sits above it and earnings fall short of expectations. The median federal debt among borrowers who completed is $19,500, which is below the $24,199 peer median by $4,699.

That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $222 a month if repaid over ten years. Graduates earn about $19,432 less than the model expects for similar students.

Aid recipients face an average net price, what they pay after grants and scholarships, of $32,297, which is above the peer median by $4,926. Averages within each family-income band are $9,932 for those earning under $30,000, $11,454 for the $30,001-$48,000 band, $15,855 for the $48,001-$75,000 band, $22,438 for the $75,001-$110,000 band, and $45,136 for those earning over $110,000.

Below-peer debt offers relief, but it sits alongside above-peer net price and below-expected earnings.

What explains value-added earnings?
Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.
+$2,928
Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.
-$22,360
Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.
-$19,432

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 / Skidmore College briefing

Skidmore College acceptance rate & admissions[1][10][11]

Admission at 21.1% sets a clear context for applicants: it is the share admitted from the reported entering-class applicant pool. That rate is below the median of 71.2% for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Applicants should treat the reported rate as one factor when building a balanced application list.

SAT: reported composite scores
Admission rate
21.0%
25th percentile
1360
Median
1400
75th percentile
1460

CDS 2025-26 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.

Read the full admissions brief

04 / Skidmore College briefing

What are the largest majors at Skidmore College?[12]

Program choice makes a marked difference in the earnings picture at Skidmore College. Computer and Information Sciences had median earnings of $104,708 four years after completion, with 19 degrees awarded in one academic year.

Business/Commerce recorded $93,229 and accounted for 87 degrees awarded, making it the larger of the higher-earning fields here. The pattern is more moderate in other prominent fields.

Political Science posted $69,091 with 42 degrees awarded, whereas Psychology recorded $47,282 across 78 degrees awarded. These program results show why the school-level earnings figure can look different depending on the field a student chooses.

Social Sciences accounts for 18.4% of bachelor’s degrees awarded, making it the largest program family, while Business represents 12.8%. Program earnings vary considerably across the college’s larger fields four years after completion.

Fine and Studio Arts awarded 42 degrees and posted $53,602, while Political Science awarded 42 degrees and posted $69,091.

The degree mix at Skidmore College is anchored by Social Sciences, which accounts for 18.4% of bachelor's degrees awarded. Business follows at 12.8%, with Visual & Performing Arts close behind at 12.7%.

11 programs have published four-year earnings data. The largest single programs are Business/Commerce at 87 degrees awarded, Psychology at 78, and Fine and Studio Arts at 42.

Business/Commerce graduates earn a median of $93,229 four years after completion, a benchmark ratio of 1.36x against the national median for its field. The highest earnings belong to a smaller program.

Computer and Information Sciences graduates earn a median of $104,708, from 19 degrees awarded a year. Political Science and Physiology, Pathology and Related Sciences follow, at $69,091 and $67,645 respectively.

Across all fields, 21.5% of degrees awarded are in STEM. The pattern is one of concentrated strength.

The largest programs are not the best-paid ones, and the highest earnings sit in a program that awards fewer than two dozen degrees a year.

Four-year earnings · six largest reported fields
Business/Commerce, General 87 degrees awarded
$93,229
Psychology, General 78 degrees awarded
$47,282
Political Science and Government 42 degrees awarded
$69,091
Fine and Studio Arts 42 degrees awarded
$53,602
English Language and Literature, General 33 degrees awarded
$51,029
Natural Resources Conservation and Research 31 degrees awarded
$51,512

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 / Skidmore College briefing

How does Skidmore College serve students from different backgrounds?

Mobility is the strongest measured pillar at Skidmore College, though the completion and earnings measures point in different directions. Azimuth places the mobility pillar in the 58th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The six-year graduation rate for the first-time full-time cohort is 82.6%, and Pell recipients complete within six years at 88.0%, above the overall rate by 5.4 percentage points. Earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, sit in the 4th percentile.

Graduates earn about $19,432 less than the model expects for similar students. Strong completion therefore sits alongside lower-than-expected earnings.

Skidmore College has a selective entry point, admitting 21.1% of applicants, and its access measures sit near the middle of Azimuth's national coverage. Azimuth places the access pillar in the 52nd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Undergraduate enrollment is 2,694 undergraduates; 12.8% receive Pell Grants, a financial-access measure. The estimated share of entrants outside the first-time, full-time group is 4.3%.

These figures describe a small undergraduate population with limited transfer entry and a modest Pell presence.

06 / Skidmore College briefing

What colleges are similar to Skidmore College?[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 Skidmore College.

Admissions peerBucknell University28.9% admitted
Comparison with Skidmore College
MeasureSkidmore CollegeBucknell University
Peer earnings · 4 years$61,281$96,035+$34,754 vs Skidmore College
Average annual net price$32,297$40,766+$8,469 vs Skidmore College · higher cost
Admission rate21.0%28.9%
Explore Bucknell University →
Higher-admission alternativeUniversity at Albany69.1% admitted
Comparison with Skidmore College
MeasureSkidmore CollegeUniversity at Albany
Peer earnings · 4 years$61,281$66,256+$4,975 vs Skidmore College
Average annual net price$32,297$17,167-$15,130 vs Skidmore College · lower cost
Admission rate21.0%69.1%
Explore University at Albany →
Nearby alternativeVassar CollegeNearby option · NY
Comparison with Skidmore College
MeasureSkidmore CollegeVassar College
Peer earnings · 4 years$61,281$61,818+$537 vs Skidmore College
Average annual net price$32,297$39,343+$7,046 vs Skidmore College · higher cost
Admission rate21.0%18.6%
Explore Vassar College →
Higher-earnings alternativeCarnegie Mellon University$132,971 earnings
Comparison with Skidmore College
MeasureSkidmore CollegeCarnegie Mellon University
Peer earnings · 4 years$61,281$132,971+$71,690 vs Skidmore College
Average annual net price$32,297$31,944-$353 vs Skidmore College · lower cost
Admission rate21.0%11.7%
Explore Carnegie Mellon University →
Lower-cost alternativeUniversity at Albany$17,167 average net price
Comparison with Skidmore College
MeasureSkidmore CollegeUniversity at Albany
Peer earnings · 4 years$61,281$66,256+$4,975 vs Skidmore College
Average annual net price$32,297$17,167-$15,130 vs Skidmore College · lower cost
Admission rate21.0%69.1%
Explore University at Albany →
Similar profileVassar CollegeMatched across several measures
Comparison with Skidmore College
MeasureSkidmore CollegeVassar College
Peer earnings · 4 years$61,281$61,818+$537 vs Skidmore College
Average annual net price$32,297$39,343+$7,046 vs Skidmore College · higher cost
Admission rate21.0%18.6%
Explore Vassar 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.

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 is 150% of the federal poverty guideline for one person, for the year the API serves. It is an illustration rather than a school rating. The parent table is the 10-year payment on the median Parent PLUS as a share of household income above 200% of the guideline for a household of three: under 6% Safe, 6–10% Caution, over 10% High pressure. 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