College Azimuth

Research brief & institution hub

University of Notre Dame

INMedium private nonprofit institution · Overall rank #119 nationally

Data snapshot Updated

Azimuth ranks University of Notre Dame #119 nationally.

Who it’s a good fit for

University of Notre Dame is a private nonprofit university in Notre Dame, Indiana, where the degree mix is led by Business, Social Sciences, and Engineering. Return is the strongest , among the highest we track, while affordability is the weakest, modestly below average.

Graduates earn less than predicts for students like them. The model attributes the gap to the factors it measures, which adds, and to a remainder it does not explain, which subtracts.

The price case turns on income: the lowest band pays far below the published cost, while the highest band pays closer to it. Pell students complete within a few points of the overall rate, and mobility is well above average.

The admission rate is below the median for comparable schools. Most graduates are estimated to go into work rather than further study.

Notre Dame at a glance

Admissions and outcomes

Admission rate[1]
11.3%
Six-year completion[2]
95.2%
Four-year earnings[3]
$100,684

Cost and family borrowing

Average annual net price · $48–75K family income[6]
$11,432
Median student debt[4]
$19,000
Median Parent PLUS debt[7]
$40,731

Notre Dame rankings: how Azimuth assesses value[5]

University of Notre Dame is a private nonprofit university in Notre Dame, Indiana. The university enrolls 8,818 undergraduates.

In the Azimuth ranking of nonprofit four-year institutions, it sits near the top of the field. University of Notre Dame admits 11.3% of applicants, compared with a median of 71.2% for comparable institutions of the same type and size.

Once enrolled, students overwhelmingly stay and finish. 99.1% return for a second year, against a peer median of 83.4%.

95.2% complete a degree within six years, against a peer median of 68.8%. An estimated 8.9% of entrants arrive as transfers or part-time students, so the six-year rate describes those who began here as first-time students.

The four pillars are spread across the ranking. Return is the strongest, while affordability is the weakest.

Mobility and access sit between them, with mobility stronger than access. The result is a profile where outcomes for graduates and the selectivity of admissions pull in one direction, and the net price for most families pulls in the other.

The University of Notre Dame's strongest pillar is return, where it sits in the 97th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The mobility pillar follows in the 87th percentile, and access in the 77th percentile. Affordability is the weakest pillar, in the 33rd percentile.

13.7% of undergraduates at University of Notre Dame receive Pell Grants, the share of the student body receiving this need-based federal aid. Azimuth ranks the university #341 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Pell recipients complete at 93.8%, a figure that sits 1.4 percentage points below the overall six-year graduation rate for the first-time full-time cohort. For mobility, Azimuth ranks the university #190 among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $10,882 less than the model expects for similar students.

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

Notre Dame rankings in context
GeographyRank
National#119

Azimuth overall value rankings within each geographic comparison group.

National pillar percentiles

Economic mobility
National percentile: 87
Access & reach
National percentile: 77
Affordability
National percentile: 33
Return on investment
National percentile: 97

Top-ranked majors

  1. Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft#1
  2. Architecture#2
  3. Mathematics and Statistics, Other#2

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 / Notre Dame briefing

Notre Dame cost & financial aid[6][7]

The University of Notre Dame publishes a cost of attendance of $83,271, with tuition and fees at $65,025 and room and board at $17,900. For the average aid recipient, the net price—what students pay after grants and scholarships—is $26,780, a savings of $56,491 against the sticker price.

That sits below the peer median of $27,371 for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $591. Azimuth ranks the university #950 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

For families in the lowest income band, the average net price drops to $7,244, which is well below the sticker total and points to substantial aid for qualifying students. The sticker price is high, but the average aid package brings the cost closer to the peer norm, though not below it.

The published cost of attendance at the University of Notre Dame is $83,271, with tuition and fees of $65,025 and room and board at $17,900. For families earning under $30,000, the average net price—what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships—is $7,244, and for families in the $48,001–$75,000 band it is $11,432.

At the top of the income scale, families earning over $110,000 face an average net price of $45,321, a spread of $38,077 between the lowest and highest bands. Azimuth ranks the university #950 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Aid covers about 68% of the published cost for the average aid recipient, an offset of $56,491 against the sticker price. The average net price across all aid recipients is $26,780, which sits below the peer median of $27,371 for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $591.

While the net price for lower-income families is modest relative to the sticker, the overall average lands slightly above the peer benchmark. Median federal student debt at completion is $19,000, with about 84.9% of federal aid recipients taking federal loans.

That figure is below the peer median of $24,199 by $5,199. For a graduate at the median four-year earnings of $100,684, that debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $216 a month if repaid over ten years.

Median Parent PLUS borrowing stands at $40,731.

Your family income

Choose a household income range to see estimated net price.

Reported average annual net price · $48–75K$11,432

After grants and scholarships. Your aid offer may differ.

Averages within each income band; individual aid packages vary.

Borrowing and repayment at Notre Dame

Federal-loan borrowers who complete at University of Notre Dame carry median federal student loan debt of $19,000 at completion. That figure is $5,199 below the $24,199 peer median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

For the separate parent-borrower population, median Parent PLUS borrowing is $40,731. In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported that 32% of graduates borrowed from any source, with average cumulative borrowing of $27,861 per borrower.

Those figures included 30% of graduates with federal loans averaging $17,617. Private loans were held by 17% of graduates and averaged $21,473 per private borrower.

Graduates of the University of Notre Dame earn a median of $100,684 four years after completion, a figure in the 97th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. That median is above the $68,250 median for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $32,434.

However, graduates earn about $10,882 less than the model expects for similar students, an outcome that falls in the 17th percentile nationally. Earnings scenarios derived from the university's program mix suggest a downside of $62,760 and an upside of $141,263.

For borrowers, the median federal student debt at completion is $19,000, which is below the $24,199 median for comparable institutions (same type and size). That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $216 a month if repaid over ten years.

High absolute earnings and below-average debt point to a strong return, but the modeled gap between actual and expected earnings pulls the other way. The earnings are high in absolute terms, yet they fall short of what the model predicts for students with similar characteristics.

Median Parent PLUS borrowing, a separate parent-borrower population, is $40,731. The estimated monthly student payment if repaid over ten years is $216.

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

Financial GPS

What does repayment look like?

Institution median student debt
$19,000
Institution Parent PLUS debt
$40,731

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

Estimated student payment · monthly
$216/mo
Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly
$518/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 / Notre Dame briefing

Notre Dame career outcomes & earnings[3][8][9]

Four years after completion, graduates of University of Notre Dame earn a median of $100,684, a figure in the 97th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. That median runs above the peer median of $68,250 among comparable institutions (same type and size) by $32,434, placing the return pillar in the 97th percentile.

Graduates earn about $10,882 less than the model expects for similar students, a result in the 17th percentile. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $13,422.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $24,304. Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $4,485.

The university's median earnings sit well above the peer benchmark while the model finds a shortfall against expectations, a split that reflects the institution's effect beyond its program mix.

Among federally aided graduates of University of Notre Dame who are working and not enrolled, median earnings four years after completion are $100,684. That is $32,434 above the $68,250 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

The earnings cohort includes 1,877 completers, placing that median in the 97th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $10,882 less than the model expects for similar students.

That places the gap in the 17th percentile. Earnings scenarios estimated from the program mix span from $62,760 on the downside to $141,263 on the upside, with $100,684 as the typical outcome.

An estimated 34.4% of graduates continue to graduate study, based on the program mix. Azimuth ranks the university #51 for return among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Federally aided graduates who are working and not enrolled show a median of $100,684 four years after completion, a figure in the 97th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. That median sits $32,434 above the $68,250 figure for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Azimuth ranks University of Notre Dame #51 for return among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $10,882 less than the model expects for similar students.

That result corresponds to the 17th 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 $13,422.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $24,304. Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $4,485.

The degrees awarded concentrate in business, engineering, computer science, the social sciences and the arts. The earnings scenarios, estimated from the program mix, stretch from a downside of $62,760 to an upside of $141,263.

An estimated 34.4% of graduates continue to graduate study, based on the program mix.

The median earnings figure of $100,684 four years after completion masks considerable variation across fields, which the earnings scenarios make plain. The downside earnings scenario sits at $62,760 while the upside scenario reaches $141,263.

These scenarios are built from the program mix, not observed percentiles, and the spread reflects the distance between the university's lower-earning and higher-earning program clusters. The highest-earning programs show what sits at the upper end of that spread.

Finance completers earn a median of $160,313 four years after graduating, Computer and Information Sciences graduates reach $142,970, and Management Science completers earn $124,557.

At University of Notre Dame, the published cost of attendance is $83,271, but the average net price—what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships—is $26,780. That average is below the $27,371 peer median for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $591.

Borrowers who complete a degree leave with a median of $19,000 in federal student loans, which is below the $24,199 peer median by $5,199. That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $216 a month if repaid over ten years.

Parents who borrow hold a separate median of $40,731. Graduates earn about $10,882 less than the model expects for similar students. Debt is below the peer median, and the estimated monthly payment is $216.

What explains value-added earnings?
Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.
+$13,422
Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.
-$24,304
Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.
-$10,882

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 / Notre Dame briefing

Notre Dame acceptance rate & admissions[1][10][11]

University of Notre Dame admitted 11.3% of applicants, a rate far below the median of 71.2% for comparable institutions (same type and size). In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported 35,401 applicants, 3,320 admitted students, and 2,118 enrolled first-year students.

SAT: reported composite scores
Admission rate
11.3%
25th percentile
1460
Median
1500
75th percentile
1540

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

Read the full admissions brief

04 / Notre Dame briefing

What are the largest majors at Notre Dame?[12]

The five largest programs at University of Notre Dame span a wide earnings range four years after completion. Finance is the biggest, awarding 260 degrees a year, and Azimuth ranks it #3 nationally within its field.

Its median earnings of $160,313 sit at the top of the range. Computer and Information Sciences awards 140 degrees a year and posts median earnings of $142,970.

Economics, at 245 degrees awarded, reports $122,637 and an Azimuth national rank of #26. At the lower end, Political Science is the lowest-earning of the five largest programs, with $94,297 across 177 degrees awarded.

Azimuth ranks it #10 nationally within its field. The contrast between the highest- and lowest-earning large programs here is sharp.

The university's strongest programs span business, sciences, and the arts, with 28 fields holding an Azimuth national rank. Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft leads the nation at #1, with 68 degrees awarded and a median of $64,880 four years after completion.

The largest program, Finance, awarded 260 degrees and ranks #3 nationally, with completers earning a median of $160,313. Economics ranks #26 nationally with 245 degrees awarded and a median of $122,637.

Biological and Physical Sciences holds a national rank of #2, awarded 57 degrees, and reports a median of $102,801.

The degree mix at University of Notre Dame leans toward business and the social sciences. Business accounts for 20.4% of bachelor's degrees awarded, with Social Sciences next at 17.6%.

The largest programs are Finance at 260 degrees awarded, Economics at 245, and Political Science at 177. Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft is the highest-ranked program nationally, at #1 within its field, with 68 degrees awarded.

Azimuth ranks it #1 in Indiana. Finance, the largest program, is also the highest-earning, with a median of $160,313 four years after completion.

It carries a benchmark ratio of 1.92x against the national median for its field. Azimuth ranks it #1 in Indiana within its field.

Strength is concentrated in a few large programs that are also highly ranked. Finance and Political Science each sit inside the top #10 nationally within their fields, and both are the top-ranked program in Indiana. Across all fields, 37.1% of degrees are in STEM.

Four-year earnings · six largest reported fields
Finance and Financial Management Services 260 degrees awarded
$160,313
Economics 245 degrees awarded
$122,637
Political Science and Government 177 degrees awarded
$94,297
Computer and Information Sciences, General 140 degrees awarded
$142,970
Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods 132 degrees awarded
$124,557
Mathematics and Statistics, Other 119 degrees awarded
$123,663

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 / Notre Dame briefing

How does Notre Dame serve students from different backgrounds?

Azimuth places University of Notre Dame in the 87th percentile for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions. The six-year graduation rate for the first-time full-time cohort is 95.2%, and Pell recipients complete at 93.8% — below the overall rate by 1.4 percentage points.

Graduates earn about $10,882 less than the model expects for similar students, a result that sits in the 17th percentile.

Azimuth places the access pillar of University of Notre Dame in the 77th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The university admits 11.3% of applicants, well below the peer median of 71.2%, and enrolls 8,818 undergraduates.

Pell Grant recipients make up 13.7% of the undergraduate body, and an estimated 8.9% of undergraduates arrive as transfers or part-time students.

06 / Notre Dame briefing

What colleges are similar to Notre Dame?[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 Notre Dame.

Admissions peerNorthwestern University7.7% admitted
Comparison with Notre Dame
MeasureNotre DameNorthwestern University
Peer earnings · 4 years$100,684$109,275+$8,591 vs Notre Dame
Average annual net price$26,780$29,167+$2,387 vs Notre Dame · higher cost
Admission rate11.3%7.7%
Explore Northwestern University →
Higher-admission alternativeIllinois Institute of Technology54.9% admitted
Comparison with Notre Dame
MeasureNotre DameIllinois Institute of Technology
Peer earnings · 4 years$100,684$91,312-$9,372 vs Notre Dame
Average annual net price$26,780$18,425-$8,355 vs Notre Dame · lower cost
Admission rate11.3%54.9%
Explore Illinois Institute of Technology →
Nearby alternativePurdue University-Main CampusNearby option · IN
Comparison with Notre Dame
MeasureNotre DamePurdue University-Main Campus
Peer earnings · 4 years$100,684$81,751-$18,933 vs Notre Dame
Average annual net price$26,780$14,600-$12,180 vs Notre Dame · lower cost
Admission rate11.3%49.9%
Explore Purdue University-Main Campus →
Higher-earnings alternativeUniversity of Pennsylvania$124,586 earnings
Comparison with Notre Dame
MeasureNotre DameUniversity of Pennsylvania
Peer earnings · 4 years$100,684$124,586+$23,902 vs Notre Dame
Average annual net price$26,780$28,699+$1,919 vs Notre Dame · higher cost
Admission rate11.3%5.4%
Explore University of Pennsylvania →
Lower-cost alternativeIllinois Institute of Technology$18,425 average net price
Comparison with Notre Dame
MeasureNotre DameIllinois Institute of Technology
Peer earnings · 4 years$100,684$91,312-$9,372 vs Notre Dame
Average annual net price$26,780$18,425-$8,355 vs Notre Dame · lower cost
Admission rate11.3%54.9%
Explore Illinois Institute of Technology →
Similar profileWashington University in St LouisMatched across several measures
Comparison with Notre Dame
MeasureNotre DameWashington University in St Louis
Peer earnings · 4 years$100,684$95,899-$4,785 vs Notre Dame
Average annual net price$26,780$21,786-$4,994 vs Notre Dame · lower cost
Admission rate11.3%12.1%
Explore Washington University in St Louis →

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