College Azimuth

Research brief & institution hub

University of Miami

FLLarge private nonprofit institution · Overall rank #285 nationally

Data snapshot Updated

Azimuth ranks University of Miami #285 nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Who it’s a good fit for

The University of Miami is a private nonprofit university in Coral Gables, Florida, where the degree mix is led by Business, Health Professions, and Social Sciences. Return is among the highest we track, while affordability is below the levels seen at many peers.

Graduates out-earn what predicts for students like them, and the model attributes that to the factors it measures, which adds, while what it cannot explain subtracts. The typical graduate earns above the median at comparable schools, so the raw and adjusted results pull in opposite directions.

The net price for the lowest income band sits well below the published cost, while the highest band pays closer to it. Pell students complete below the overall rate, and mobility is well above average.

The admission rate is below the median for comparable schools, and the largest programs are in business and health fields. An estimated share of graduates continue to graduate study, and the four-year earnings figure counts only graduates who are not enrolled.

University of Miami at a glance

Admissions and outcomes

Admission rate[1]
18.9%
Six-year completion[2]
83.7%
Four-year earnings[3]
$85,019

Cost and family borrowing

Average annual net price · $48–75K family income[6]
$21,768
Median student debt[4]
$17,500
Median Parent PLUS debt[7]
$37,267

University of Miami rankings: how Azimuth assesses value[5]

University of Miami is a private nonprofit university in Coral Gables, Florida, enrolling 12,913 undergraduates. Its composite standing sits near the top of the Azimuth ranking among nonprofit four-year institutions (81st percentile).

The university admits 18.9% of applicants, a rate well below the median of 47.1% for comparable institutions of the same type and size. Among full-time first-year students, 93.8% return for a second year, above the median for similar schools of 90.1%.

The six-year graduation rate for the first-time, full-time cohort is 83.7%, against a median of 80.0%. An estimated 17.1% of undergraduates arrive as transfers or part-time students, so that completion figure describes a minority of the people who study here.

Return is the strongest and affordability the weakest. Access and mobility fall between them (85th and 76th percentiles).

The four pillars are spread across a wide range, with affordability sitting far below the other three.

University of Miami's strongest pillar is return, in the 91st percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions, while affordability is the weakest, in the 12th percentile. The access pillar sits in the 85th percentile and mobility in the 76th percentile.

The return and access scores point the same way, but the affordability figure tells a different story about net price.

14.9% of undergraduates at University of Miami receive Pell Grants. Azimuth ranks University of Miami #226 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Pell recipients complete at a rate of 75.9%, which is 7.8 percentage points below the overall six-year graduation rate. Azimuth ranks the university #354 for mobility. Graduates earn about $10,036 more than the model expects for similar students.

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

University of Miami rankings in context
GeographyRank
National#285

Azimuth overall value rankings within each geographic comparison group.

National pillar percentiles

Economic mobility
National percentile: 76
Access & reach
National percentile: 85
Affordability
National percentile: 12
Return on investment
National percentile: 91

Top-ranked majors

  1. Non-Professional Legal Studies#1
  2. Criminology#2
  3. Business/Managerial Economics#3

This school’s three highest-ranked programs nationally. Each rank compares bachelor’s programs in the same field; field sizes differ.

Explore major rankings

01 / University of Miami briefing

University of Miami cost & financial aid[6][7]

University of Miami lists a published cost of attendance of $86,078, an average across living arrangements. Tuition and fees are $62,616, and room and board are $23,790.

For aid recipients, the average net price—what students pay after grants and scholarships—is $37,244, meaning financial aid reduces the sticker price by $48,834 on average. That is $1,033 above the $36,211 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Azimuth ranks the university #1,244 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions. That places the affordability pillar in the 12th percentile.

University of Miami publishes a cost of attendance of $86,078, an average across living arrangements. Tuition and fees are $62,616 and room and board are $23,790.

For families earning under $30,000, the average net price—what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships—is $15,978. For the $48,001–$75,000 band it is $21,768, and for families earning over $110,000 it is $50,352.

The spread between the lowest and highest bands is $34,374, a wide gap that reflects the university's high sticker price and the substantial aid directed toward lower-income families. Azimuth ranks the university #1,244 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Aid covers about 57% of the published cost for the average aid recipient, a savings of $48,834 against the sticker price. The average net price across all aid recipients is $37,244, which sits above the peer median of $36,211 for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $1,033.

While the university's aid program substantially reduces the published cost, the resulting net price remains higher than what many peers charge, which contributes to the low affordability rank. Among students who borrow, the median federal student debt at completion is $17,500.

That figure is below the peer median of $23,168 for comparable institutions by $5,668, and 84.8% of federal aid recipients take federal loans. For a graduate at the median four-year earnings, that debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $199 a month if repaid over ten years.

Parents who borrow through Parent PLUS carry a separate median of $37,267.

Your family income

Choose a household income range to see estimated net price.

Reported average annual net price · $48–75K$21,768

After grants and scholarships. Your aid offer may differ.

Averages within each income band; individual aid packages vary.

Borrowing and repayment at University of Miami

The University of Miami keeps federal student debt low relative to its private-university peers, even though most undergraduates borrow. About 84.8% of federal aid recipients take federal loans, and among those who complete a degree the median federal student debt is $17,500.

That median is below the $23,168 median for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $5,668. Parent borrowers, a separate population, carry a median Parent PLUS loan of $37,267.

In its 2024-25 Common Data Set, the university reported that 37% of the bachelor's graduates in the cohort borrowed from any source. The average cumulative amount per borrower was $23,000.

Federal loans were held by 35% of graduates, including an average of $19,500. A smaller group of graduates, 9%, held private loans averaging $55,762.

Graduates of the University of Miami earn about $10,036 more than the model expects for similar students, placing the university in the 83rd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The median earnings four years after completion reach $85,019, a figure in the 92nd percentile nationally.

Earnings scenarios derived from the university's program mix show a typical outcome of $85,019, with a downside scenario of $46,994 and an upside scenario of $104,693. Borrowers who complete a degree carry a median federal student debt of $17,500, which is below the $23,168 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $199 a month if repaid over ten years. The median earnings figure sits above the peer median of $83,615, so the return picture is mixed.

Graduates beat the earnings model but fall short of the peer median, while carrying less federal debt than peers.

Median Parent PLUS borrowing, a separate parent-borrower population, is $37,267. The estimated monthly student payment if repaid over ten years is $199.

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

Financial GPS

What does repayment look like?

Institution median student debt
$17,500
Institution Parent PLUS debt
$37,267

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

Estimated student payment · monthly
$199/mo
Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly
$473/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 / University of Miami briefing

University of Miami career outcomes & earnings[3][8][9]

University of Miami delivers strong earnings outcomes relative to similar institutions, with its return pillar in the 91st percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $10,036 more than the model expects for similar students, a result in the 83rd percentile.

The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $10,767. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $731.

Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $1,828. Four years after completion, the median earnings for the university's completers reach $85,019, which lands in the 92nd percentile nationally.

That figure is above the peer median of $83,615 for comparable institutions (same type and size), a gap of $1,404. The strong earnings beyond expectations coincide with a median that trails the peer group, a mixed signal on absolute return.

The University of Miami's strongest pillar is return on investment, and the earnings figures show why. Four years after completion, the median earnings of the university's graduates stand at $85,019, placing the university in the 92nd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The earnings cohort includes 2,185 federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled. Graduates earn about $10,036 more than the model expects for similar students, a result that ranks in the 83rd percentile nationally.

Earnings scenarios, which reflect the university's program mix, point to a typical outcome near the observed median, with a downside scenario of $46,994 and an upside scenario reaching $104,693. An estimated 31.4% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure estimated from the program mix.

The median earnings sit above the peer median of $83,615 for comparable institutions (same type and size).

At University of Miami, federally aided graduates who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $85,019 four years after completing a degree. That median lands at the 92nd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions, sitting $1,404 above the $83,615 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Azimuth ranks the university #137 for return among nonprofit four-year institutions, one of the four pillars it tracks. Graduates earn about $10,036 more than the model expects for similar students.

That places the earnings-beyond-expectations result at the 83rd percentile nationally 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 $10,767.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $731. Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $1,828.

Estimated from the program mix, the downside earnings scenario is $46,994 while the upside scenario is $104,693 for completers. An estimated 31.4% of graduates continue on to graduate study, based on the program mix.

The program mix is concentrated in business, health professions, and the social sciences, with STEM programs playing a smaller measured role.

The earnings scenarios, estimated from the university's program mix, show a wide spread between the downside and the upside. The downside earnings scenario sits at $46,994, while the upside reaches $104,693.

Program-level figures explain the range. Computer Science graduates report the highest median, at $121,589 four years after completion.

Business/Managerial Economics follows at $116,367, and the largest program, Finance, comes in at $110,240.

At University of Miami, strong earnings coexist with a cost structure that requires careful planning. The published cost of attendance is $86,078 (an average across living arrangements).

After grants and scholarships, the average net price for aid recipients is $37,244, which is above the peer median of $36,211 for comparable institutions (same type and size). Borrowers who complete a degree leave with a median of $17,500 in federal student loans.

That is below the peer median of $23,168 and corresponds to an estimated payment of $199 a month if repaid over ten years. Parents who borrow hold a separate median of $37,267.

The return pillar sits at the 91st percentile, with graduates earn about $10,036 more than the model expects for similar students. The affordability pillar is at the 12th percentile. The net price is above the peer median while earnings remain high.

What explains value-added earnings?
Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.
+$10,767
Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.
-$731
Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.
+$10,036

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 / University of Miami briefing

University of Miami acceptance rate & admissions[1][10][11]

The University of Miami admits 18.9% of applicants, a rate far below the median of 47.1% for comparable institutions (same type and size). In its 2024-25 Common Data Set, the university reported 53,924 applicants and 10,177 admitted students.

SAT: reported composite scores
Admission rate
18.9%
25th percentile
1340
Median
1400
75th percentile
1450

CDS 2024-25 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.

Read the full admissions brief

04 / University of Miami briefing

What are the largest majors at University of Miami?[12]

The University of Miami's largest programs span a wide earnings range four years after completion. Finance, the biggest with 256 degrees awarded, reaches a median of $110,240 and an Azimuth national rank of #17 in the field.

Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication earns $82,999 and ranks #4 nationally on 162 degrees awarded. Psychology, the third-largest program at 206 degrees awarded, shows a median of $54,290 and ranks #101 nationally.

These three programs show a wide range of median earnings four years after completion.

The university publishes earnings data for 32 bachelor's programs, 30 of which hold an Azimuth national rank. The strongest ranks span legal studies, criminology, business, and technology, where medians four years after completion run well above the national benchmarks for their fields.

Non-Professional Legal Studies holds a national rank of #1 and is #1 in Florida. The program awarded 48 degrees and reports a median of $99,836.

Finance, the largest program at 256 degrees, ranks #17 nationally with a median of $110,240. Nursing awarded 253 degrees, ranks #103 nationally, and shows a median of $92,555.

Computer Science is the highest-earning program, with a median of $121,589 and 83 degrees awarded.

The University of Miami awards bachelor's degrees across a broad set of fields, with 30 programs holding an Azimuth national rank and 32 with published four-year earnings data. Business is the largest program family, accounting for 21.8% of degrees awarded, followed by Health Professions at 11.5% and Social Sciences at 10.6%.

The largest single programs are Finance, with 256 degrees awarded, Nursing at 253, and Psychology at 206. The highest-ranked program is Non-Professional Legal Studies, with 48 degrees awarded and median earnings of $99,836 four years after completion.

Criminology ranks #1 in Florida within its field. Non-Professional Legal Studies carries a benchmark ratio of 1.61x against the national median for its field.

The highest-earning program is Computer Science, a smaller program at 83 degrees awarded, where graduates earn a median of $121,589. The pattern is one of strength concentrated in business and communication fields, where several large programs carry high state ranks alongside earnings well above the national medians for their fields.

Finance, Nursing, and Marketing all sit among the five largest programs, while the highest earnings belong to a smaller computer science cohort. Across all fields, 21.1% of degrees awarded are in STEM.

Four-year earnings · six largest reported fields
Finance and Financial Management Services 256 degrees awarded
$110,240
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing 253 degrees awarded
$92,555
Psychology, General 206 degrees awarded
$54,290
Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication 162 degrees awarded
$82,999
Marketing 154 degrees awarded
$85,935
Economics 119 degrees awarded
$92,998

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 / University of Miami briefing

How does University of Miami serve students from different backgrounds?

Graduates earn about $10,036 more than the model expects for similar students, a result that sits in the 83rd percentile nationally. That earnings strength coincides with a six-year graduation rate of 83.7% for the first-time full-time cohort.

Pell recipients complete at 75.9%, which is below the overall rate by 7.8 percentage points. Azimuth places the university in the 76th percentile for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Azimuth places the access pillar of University of Miami in the 85th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The university admits 18.9% of applicants, a rate far below the peer median of 47.1%, and enrolls 12,913 undergraduates.

Pell Grant recipients make up 14.9% of the undergraduate body, and an estimated 17.1% of undergraduates enter as transfers or part-time students.

06 / University of Miami briefing

What colleges are similar to University of Miami?[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 University of Miami.

Admissions peerTrinity University25.9% admitted
Comparison with University of Miami
MeasureUniversity of MiamiTrinity University
Peer earnings · 4 years$85,019$67,249-$17,770 vs University of Miami
Average annual net price$37,244$23,464-$13,780 vs University of Miami · lower cost
Admission rate18.9%25.9%
Higher-admission alternativeBarry University77.2% admitted
Comparison with University of Miami
MeasureUniversity of MiamiBarry University
Peer earnings · 4 years$85,019$73,480-$11,539 vs University of Miami
Average annual net price$37,244$22,613-$14,631 vs University of Miami · lower cost
Admission rate18.9%77.2%
Explore Barry University →
Nearby alternativeBarry UniversityNearby option · FL
Comparison with University of Miami
MeasureUniversity of MiamiBarry University
Peer earnings · 4 years$85,019$73,480-$11,539 vs University of Miami
Average annual net price$37,244$22,613-$14,631 vs University of Miami · lower cost
Admission rate18.9%77.2%
Explore Barry University →
Higher-earnings alternativeHarvey Mudd College$137,100 earnings
Comparison with University of Miami
MeasureUniversity of MiamiHarvey Mudd College
Peer earnings · 4 years$85,019$137,100+$52,081 vs University of Miami
Average annual net price$37,244$35,924-$1,320 vs University of Miami · lower cost
Admission rate18.9%12.7%
Explore Harvey Mudd College →
Lower-cost alternativeBarry University$22,613 average net price
Comparison with University of Miami
MeasureUniversity of MiamiBarry University
Peer earnings · 4 years$85,019$73,480-$11,539 vs University of Miami
Average annual net price$37,244$22,613-$14,631 vs University of Miami · lower cost
Admission rate18.9%77.2%
Explore Barry University →
Similar profileGeorge Washington UniversityMatched across several measures
Comparison with University of Miami
MeasureUniversity of MiamiGeorge Washington University
Peer earnings · 4 years$85,019$95,967+$10,948 vs University of Miami
Average annual net price$37,244$36,586-$658 vs University of Miami · lower cost
Admission rate18.9%47.1%
Explore George Washington 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