College Azimuth

Research brief & institution hub

SUNY at Fredonia

NYMedium public institution · Overall rank #790 nationally

Data snapshot Updated

Azimuth places SUNY at Fredonia in the 46th percentile overall among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Who it’s a good fit for

SUNY at Fredonia is a public university in Fredonia, New York, where the degree mix is led by Education and Visual & Performing Arts. Access is the strongest , at above average.

Graduates earn less than predicts for students like them. The model attributes the gap to a remainder it does not explain, which subtracts from earnings, while the factors it measures include both additions and subtractions.

Return is below the levels seen at many peers. Pell recipients complete within a fraction of a point of the overall rate, and mobility is above average.

The lowest income band pays well below the published cost. The highest band pays closer to it, so the aid structure works hardest for the families who need it most.

The admission rate is below the median for comparable schools, and the degree mix leans toward education and the arts. A student drawn to those fields should know the largest programs are not the best-paid ones: the highest-earning program is a much smaller one in Information Science/Studies.

SUNY at Fredonia at a glance

Admissions and outcomes

Admission rate[1]
77.7%
Six-year completion[2]
50.2%
Four-year earnings[3]
$52,192

Cost and family borrowing

Average annual net price · $48–75K family income[6]
$16,116
Median student debt[4]
$24,250
Median Parent PLUS debt[7]
$17,580

SUNY at Fredonia rankings: how Azimuth assesses value[5]

SUNY at Fredonia is a public university in Fredonia, New York, serving 2,755 undergraduates. Its composite standing sits near the middle of the Azimuth ranking among nonprofit four-year institutions (46th percentile).

SUNY at Fredonia admits 77.7% of applicants, against a median of 85.9% for comparable institutions of the same type and size. The first-year retention rate is 76.2%, against a peer median of 73.7%.

The six-year graduation rate for the first-time full-time cohort is 50.2%, against a peer median of 49.1%. An estimated 17.4% of entrants arrive as transfers or part-time students, so that rate describes the first-time full-time group and not the full student body.

Access is the strongest of the four pillars, at the 67th percentile, followed by affordability and mobility. Return is the weakest, at the 14th percentile, and sits far below the other three.

The result is a public university where the financial-access measures run well ahead of the earnings picture.

Access is the clearest relative strength for SUNY at Fredonia, placing it in the 67th percentile. Among nonprofit four-year institutions, affordability is in the 67th percentile, mobility in the 57th percentile, and return in the 14th percentile.

Access is the strongest pillar and return the weakest, leaving a profile where access and affordability stand above the return picture.

At SUNY at Fredonia, 38.8% of undergraduates receive Pell Grants, a measure of financial access. The middle 50% of submitted SAT scores fell between 1,160 and 1,370.

The middle 50% of submitted ACT scores fell between 23 and 28. Among nonprofit four-year institutions, Azimuth ranks the university #481 for access.

Pell recipients complete at 49.3%, below the rate for the cohort as a whole (50.2%) by 0.9 percentage points. Azimuth ranks the university #626 for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $13,700 less than the model expects for similar students.

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

SUNY at Fredonia rankings in context
GeographyRank
National#790

Azimuth overall value rankings within each geographic comparison group.

National pillar percentiles

Economic mobility
National percentile: 57
Access & reach
National percentile: 67
Affordability
National percentile: 67
Return on investment
National percentile: 14

01 / SUNY at Fredonia briefing

SUNY at Fredonia cost & financial aid[6][7]

The published annual cost at SUNY at Fredonia is $25,879 before aid, so the price seen at the outset differs from what many aid recipients pay. Published components include $8,831 in-state tuition and fees, $19,771 out-of-state tuition and fees, and $15,230 for room and board.

For aid recipients, the average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $15,897. Financial aid reduces the published cost by $9,982 on average.

The is above the peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), of $14,068 by $1,829. Azimuth ranks SUNY at Fredonia #467 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The affordability ranking is relatively favorable even though the average net price sits above the comparable-school median.

The published cost of attendance at SUNY at Fredonia is $25,879. Azimuth ranks the university #467 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 $9,395, for those earning $48,001 to $75,000 it is $16,116, and for those earning over $110,000 it is $20,743. The spread between the lowest and highest bands is $11,348.

Aid covers about 39% of the published cost for the average aid recipient, bringing the average net price across all aid recipients to $15,897. That figure is $1,829 above the $14,068 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

In-state tuition and fees are $8,831, and out-of-state tuition and fees are $19,771. Borrowers who finish carry a median of $24,250 in federal student loans.

That is $3,021 above the peer median of $21,229, and 92.2% of federal aid recipients take federal loans. Parents who borrow hold a separate median of $17,580 in Parent PLUS loans.

If repaid over ten years, the median federal debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $276 a month.

Your family income

Choose a household income range to see estimated net price.

Reported average annual net price · $48–75K$16,116

After grants and scholarships. Your aid offer may differ.

Averages within each income band; individual aid packages vary.

Borrowing and repayment at SUNY at Fredonia

Federal borrowing is widespread at SUNY at Fredonia: 92.2% of federal aid recipients take federal loans, and borrowers who complete have median federal student loan debt of $24,250. The peer median is $21,229 at comparable institutions (same type and size); Fredonia’s median is above that figure by $3,021.

For the separate population of Parent PLUS parent borrowers, median borrowing is $17,580. Broad federal borrowing and debt above the peer median point in the same direction.

The investment picture at SUNY at Fredonia is mixed: graduates earn less than peers and carry more debt, but the net price for lower-income families is moderate. Return is the weakest of the university's four pillars.

Four years after completing a degree, federally aided graduates who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $52,192, at the 24th percentile nationally. That is $5,109 below the $57,301 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Graduates earn about $13,700 less than the model expects for similar students, an outcome at the 10th percentile. Earnings scenarios, estimated from the program mix, range from $44,027 in a downside case to $62,172 in an upside case, with $52,192 as the typical scenario.

Borrowers who finish carry a median of $24,250 in federal student loans, $3,021 above the $21,229 peer median. That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $276 a month if repaid over ten years.

Among the separate Parent PLUS parent-borrower population, median borrowing was $17,580. Median federal student debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $276 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
$24,250
Institution Parent PLUS debt
$17,580

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

Estimated student payment · monthly
$276/mo
Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly
$223/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 / SUNY at Fredonia briefing

SUNY at Fredonia career outcomes & earnings[3][8][9]

Four years after completing a degree, federally aided graduates who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $52,192. That is $5,109 below the $57,301 median for comparable institutions (same type and size), and sits at the 24th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Graduates earn about $13,700 less than the model expects for similar students. That places the gap at the 10th percentile.

The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) subtracts $2,870. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $10,830.

Azimuth places the university at the 14th percentile for return among nonprofit four-year institutions.

For federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled, SUNY at Fredonia has median earnings of $52,192 four years after completion. That figure sits in the 24th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions, based on an earnings cohort of 919 completers.

The program-mix model sets a typical earnings scenario at $52,192, with a downside scenario of $44,027 and an upside scenario of $62,172. An estimated 29.0% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure estimated from the program mix.

These earnings scenarios show a broad range around earnings that sit near the lower end of the Azimuth distribution.

At SUNY at Fredonia, federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled show a median of $52,192 four years after graduating, in the 24th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The peer median for comparable institutions (same type and size) is $57,301, leaving the university $5,109 below.

Azimuth ranks the university #1,265 for return among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $13,700 less than the model expects for similar students.

That places the gap in the 10th 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) subtracts $2,870.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $10,830. Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $213.

Earnings scenarios, estimated from a program mix weighted toward education and the visual and performing arts, run from a downside of $44,027 through a typical of $52,192 to an upside of $62,172. The typical scenario lands at the same level as the observed median.

Based on the program mix, an estimated 29.0% of graduates continue to graduate study.

Earnings vary markedly by field at SUNY at Fredonia: earnings scenarios run from $44,027 on the downside to $62,172 on the upside, rather than describing observed groups. The published data cover 22 fields with earnings four years after completion. Field choice therefore coincides with a wide modeled earnings range.

Borrowing at SUNY at Fredonia is higher than at comparable institutions, while the model expects higher earnings than its graduates achieve. The median federal student loan debt for borrowers who completed is $24,250, above the $21,229 peer median for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $3,021.

That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $276 a month if repaid over ten years. Earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, also warrant attention.

Graduates earn about $13,700 less than the model expects for similar students. Average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $15,897, which is above the $14,068 peer median by $1,829.

Aid covers about 39% of the published cost for the average aid recipient. Parent PLUS borrowers, a separate population from student borrowers, have median debt of $17,580.

Higher borrowing and a higher average net price point in the same direction, alongside below-expected earnings.

What explains value-added earnings?
Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.
-$2,870
Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.
-$10,830
Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.
-$13,700

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 / SUNY at Fredonia briefing

SUNY at Fredonia acceptance rate & admissions[1][10][11]

With an admission rate of 77.7%, SUNY at Fredonia admitted a broad share of applicants in the reported entering class. That rate is below the median of 85.9% for comparable institutions (same type and size), so admission occurred less often here than across that peer group.

SAT: approximate enrolled-student range
Admission rate
77.7%
Approximate lower endpoint
1160
Reported average
1250
Approximate upper endpoint
1370

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 / SUNY at Fredonia briefing

What are the largest majors at SUNY at Fredonia?[12]

At SUNY at Fredonia, earnings differ sharply across fields, with a small higher-earning group alongside programs closer to the school’s middle range. Information Science/Studies reports median earnings of $77,409 four years after completion and 9 degrees awarded, while Accounting shows $74,904 and 21 degrees awarded.

More moderate earnings appear in Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication, at $58,820 four years after completion with 35 degrees awarded. Marketing follows at $58,379 and 16 degrees awarded.

The range between these fields shows why a schoolwide earnings figure does not describe every program equally.

Program earnings vary widely across the university’s larger fields, making the choice of field especially consequential. Earnings data are published for 22 bachelor’s fields.

Business Administration and Management awarded 59 degrees and reports $58,133, while Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft awarded 47 degrees and reports $39,770. These results show a broad earnings spread even among the largest fields.

The program mix at SUNY at Fredonia is anchored by Education and Visual & Performing Arts, each accounting for 17.9% of bachelor's degrees awarded. Business is the next largest family at 10.5%.

The university has 22 programs with published four-year earnings data. The largest single program is Subject-Area Teacher Education, at 87 degrees awarded a year.

Its graduates earn a median of $53,292 four years after completion, which is 1.04x the national median for the field. Psychology and Business Administration and Management follow, with 83 and 59 degrees awarded.

The highest-earning program is a much smaller one. Information Science/Studies graduates earn $77,409 four years out, from 9 degrees awarded a year.

Accounting is next, at $74,904 from 21 degrees awarded. The pattern is one of concentrated strength in education and the arts, with the best-paid outcomes in smaller technical and business programs.

Across all fields, 11.3% of degrees are in STEM. A student drawn to the largest departments should know that the highest earnings sit elsewhere.

Four-year earnings · six largest reported fields
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas 87 degrees awarded
$53,292
Psychology, General 83 degrees awarded
$47,043
Business Administration, Management and Operations 59 degrees awarded
$58,133
Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft 47 degrees awarded
$39,770
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods 41 degrees awarded
$49,763
Criminal Justice and Corrections 40 degrees awarded
$53,149

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 / SUNY at Fredonia briefing

How does SUNY at Fredonia serve students from different backgrounds?

Access is the strongest pillar at SUNY at Fredonia, but mobility presents a mixed outcome picture. Azimuth places the mobility pillar in the 57th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

For the first-time full-time cohort, the six-year graduation rate is 50.2%, and Pell recipients complete at 49.3%, below the overall rate by 0.9 percentage points. Four years after completion, graduates earn about $13,700 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 10th percentile. The completion rates are close, while earnings fall below the model’s expectation.

Access is a relative strength at SUNY at Fredonia, where 38.8% of undergraduates receive Pell Grants. The public university enrolls 2,755 undergraduates.

Azimuth places its access pillar in the 67th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. It admits 77.7% of applicants, and the estimated share of entrants outside the first-time, full-time group is 17.4%.

The Pell share, admissions rate, and transfer estimate describe several routes into the university.

06 / SUNY at Fredonia briefing

What colleges are similar to SUNY at Fredonia?[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 SUNY at Fredonia.

Admissions peerAlfred University73.8% admitted
Comparison with SUNY at Fredonia
MeasureSUNY at FredoniaAlfred University
Peer earnings · 4 years$52,192$58,242+$6,050 vs SUNY at Fredonia
Average annual net price$15,897$25,620+$9,723 vs SUNY at Fredonia · higher cost
Admission rate77.7%73.8%
Explore Alfred University →
Higher-admission alternativeHilbert College97.2% admitted
Comparison with SUNY at Fredonia
MeasureSUNY at FredoniaHilbert College
Peer earnings · 4 years$52,192$53,063+$871 vs SUNY at Fredonia
Average annual net price$15,897$22,723+$6,826 vs SUNY at Fredonia · higher cost
Admission rate77.7%97.2%
Nearby alternativeSUNY Buffalo State UniversityNearby option · NY
Comparison with SUNY at Fredonia
MeasureSUNY at FredoniaSUNY Buffalo State University
Peer earnings · 4 years$52,192$53,203+$1,011 vs SUNY at Fredonia
Average annual net price$15,897$11,346-$4,551 vs SUNY at Fredonia · lower cost
Admission rate77.7%73.0%
Explore SUNY Buffalo State University →
Higher-earnings alternativeNiagara University$67,652 earnings
Comparison with SUNY at Fredonia
MeasureSUNY at FredoniaNiagara University
Peer earnings · 4 years$52,192$67,652+$15,460 vs SUNY at Fredonia
Average annual net price$15,897$17,248+$1,351 vs SUNY at Fredonia · higher cost
Admission rate77.7%87.4%
Lower-cost alternativeSUNY Buffalo State University$11,346 average net price
Comparison with SUNY at Fredonia
MeasureSUNY at FredoniaSUNY Buffalo State University
Peer earnings · 4 years$52,192$53,203+$1,011 vs SUNY at Fredonia
Average annual net price$15,897$11,346-$4,551 vs SUNY at Fredonia · lower cost
Admission rate77.7%73.0%
Explore SUNY Buffalo State University →
Similar profileSUNY College of Technology at CantonMatched across several measures
Comparison with SUNY at Fredonia
MeasureSUNY at FredoniaSUNY College of Technology at Canton
Peer earnings · 4 years$52,192$57,422+$5,230 vs SUNY at Fredonia
Average annual net price$15,897$15,268-$629 vs SUNY at Fredonia · lower cost
Admission rate77.7%92.2%

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