College Azimuth

Research brief & institution hub

University of Rochester

NYMedium private nonprofit institution · Overall rank #318 nationally

Data snapshot Updated

In Azimuth’s composite, University of Rochester reaches the 78th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Who it’s a good fit for

University of Rochester is a private nonprofit university in Rochester, New York, where the degree mix is led by Health Professions, Engineering, and Social Sciences. Return is well above average, and most graduates are estimated to go into jobs rather than on to further study.

Graduates out-earn what predicts for students like them, and the typical graduate earns above the median at comparable schools. The model adds for the factors it measures — field of study, enrollment and the local labor market — and subtracts for what it cannot explain.

Students who arrive with Pell Grants finish within a few points of the rate for the entering cohort as a whole, and mobility is well above average. Affordability is modestly below average, and the spread between what the lowest and highest income bands pay is wide.

The admission rate is below the median for comparable schools. A student drawn to the largest programs should know that the best-paid ones are not the largest.

University of Rochester at a glance

Admissions and outcomes

Admission rate[1]
40.1%
Six-year completion[2]
85.4%
Four-year earnings[3]
$87,197

Cost and family borrowing

Average annual net price · $48–75K family income[6]
$21,087
Median student debt[4]
$21,000
Median Parent PLUS debt[7]
$30,000

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

The University of Rochester is a private nonprofit university in Rochester, New York, enrolling 6,331 undergraduates. Its composite standing sits in the upper reaches of the Azimuth ranking among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The return is the strongest of the four, while affordability is the weakest. The university admits 40.1% of applicants, a rate well below the 71.2% median for comparable institutions of the same type and size.

Among full-time first-year students, 90.7% return for a second year, against a median of 83.4% for similar schools. The six-year graduation rate is 85.4%, compared with a peer median of 68.8%.

An estimated 6.7% of undergraduates are not first-time, full-time students, so the six-year rate describes a specific cohort rather than the full student body. The four pillars sit far apart: return is the strongest, while affordability is the weakest.

Mobility and access sit between them. The shape is a private nonprofit university where the strongest outcome and the weakest sit at opposite ends of the ranking.

Return is the clearest part of the picture at 88th percentile of nonprofit four-year institutions, making it the university’s strongest pillar. Azimuth places mobility at the 80th percentile and access at the 61st percentile, while affordability sits at the 26th percentile.

Return and mobility are relative strengths, but affordability is the weakest pillar and pulls in the other direction.

Pell Grants reach 17.2% of undergraduates at University of Rochester, a measure of financial access. Pell recipients complete at 85.4%, 0.0 percentage points below the rate for the entering cohort as a whole (85.4%).

Students who enter with Pell Grants finish at essentially the same rate as the overall cohort. Azimuth ranks the university #571 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Azimuth ranks the university #291 for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $5,997 more than the model expects for similar students. Mobility ranks higher than access at this institution.

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

University of Rochester rankings in context
GeographyRank
National#318

Azimuth overall value rankings within each geographic comparison group.

National pillar percentiles

Economic mobility
National percentile: 80
Access & reach
National percentile: 61
Affordability
National percentile: 26
Return on investment
National percentile: 88

Top-ranked majors

  1. Social Sciences, Other#5
  2. Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods#11
  3. Research and Experimental Psychology#15

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 Rochester briefing

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

At University of Rochester, aid changes a published cost of attendance of $85,962 (an average across living arrangements) for recipients who qualify. Tuition and fees are $67,080, and room and board are $19,792.

For aid recipients, the average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $29,278, with average financial-aid savings of $56,684 against the sticker price. At comparable institutions (same type and size), the peer median net price is $27,371; Rochester's average is above it by $1,907.

These averages describe aid recipients rather than a personal bill. Azimuth ranks University of Rochester #1,048 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The above-peer and affordability rank point in the same direction.

Costs at University of Rochester vary sharply by family income despite a published cost of attendance of $85,962 (an average across living arrangements). The average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $9,678 for the lowest family-income band; $12,185 for the next family-income band; $21,087 for the middle family-income band; $27,883 for the next-highest family-income band; and $46,801 for the highest family-income band.

The spread between the lowest and highest bands is $37,123. Azimuth ranks the university #1,048 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

For the average aid recipient, aid covers about 66% of the published cost, or average savings of $56,684 against the sticker price. Across all aid recipients, the average net price is $29,278, which is $1,907 above the peer median of $27,371 at comparable institutions (same type and size).

Published tuition and fees are $67,080, and room and board are listed at $19,792. Aid offsets much of the published price on average, though prices remain higher than the peer median.

Among borrowers who completed, median federal student loan debt is $21,000, $3,199 below the $24,199 peer median at comparable institutions (same type and size). 95.0% of federal aid recipients borrow federal loans.

That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $239 a month if repaid over ten years. Median Parent PLUS borrowing is $30,000.

Your family income

Choose a household income range to see estimated net price.

Reported average annual net price · $48–75K$21,087

After grants and scholarships. Your aid offer may differ.

Averages within each income band; individual aid packages vary.

Borrowing and repayment at University of Rochester

Federal borrowing is widespread at University of Rochester, though debt at completion sits below the peer median. Among federal loan borrowers who completed, median federal student loan debt was $21,000.

95.0% of federal aid recipients take federal loans. At comparable institutions (same type and size), the median was $24,199, placing the university below by $3,199.

Separate parent borrowers had median Parent PLUS borrowing of $30,000. In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported 41% of graduates borrowed from any source, with average cumulative debt of $30,785 per borrower.

That reporting includes 39% of graduates with federal loans, averaging $17,677 per federal borrower. It also includes 10% of graduates with private loans, averaging $56,680 per private borrower.

University of Rochester pairs a strong earnings picture with debt that sits below its peer benchmark. Median earnings are $87,197 four years after completion, placing the university in the 93rd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Graduates earn about $5,997 more than the model expects for similar students. Azimuth places earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, in the 74th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Program-mix earnings scenarios place the downside at $48,194 and the upside at $120,908, with the typical scenario matching the reported median. Median federal debt at completion is $21,000, below the $24,199 peer median at comparable institutions (same type and size) by $3,199.

That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $239 a month if repaid over ten years. Above-expected earnings and lower debt point in the same direction.

For a separate parent-borrower population, median Parent PLUS borrowing is $30,000; student borrowing is measured separately. The median federal student debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $239 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
$21,000
Institution Parent PLUS debt
$30,000

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

Estimated student payment · monthly
$239/mo
Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly
$381/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 Rochester briefing

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

Four years after finishing, federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $87,197. That figure falls at the 93rd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Azimuth places the return pillar in the 88th percentile. The peer median for comparable institutions (same type and size) is $68,250, leaving the university $18,947 above that benchmark.

Graduates earn about $5,997 more than the model expects for similar students. That places the earnings-beyond-expectations result at the 74th percentile.

The share the model assigns to measured factors—field of study, enrollment and the local labor market—adds $8,721. The remainder the model does not explain subtracts $2,724. Of those measured factors, the STEM component alone adds $4,853.

University of Rochester shows a high earnings level for the graduates measured here. Their median earnings are $87,197 four years after completion, among federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled.

Azimuth places that earnings measure in the 93rd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions, based on an earnings cohort of 1,570 completers. A typical earnings scenario based on the program mix is $87,197.

Graduates earn about $5,997 more than the model expects for similar students. An estimated 33.4% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure estimated from the program mix.

The high earnings standing and above-expected result point in the same direction.

At University of Rochester, median earnings reach $87,197 four years after completion, placing the university in the 93rd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $68,250, and Rochester stands above it by $18,947.

Graduates earn about $5,997 more 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 74th 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 $8,721. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $2,724.

Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $4,853. Earnings scenarios grounded in the program mix run from $48,194 in the downside scenario to $120,908 in the upside scenario.

Azimuth places the return pillar in the 88th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Nursing, the largest program, awarded 243 degrees and had median earnings of $90,038 four years after completion; Azimuth ranks it #108 nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions in its field.

Computer Science had median earnings of $155,464 four years after completion and a benchmark ratio of 1.45x against the national median for its field. Azimuth ranks it #23 nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions in its field.

Social Sciences awarded 25 degrees and recorded $68,333 in median earnings four years after completion; Azimuth ranks it #5 nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions in its field. The program figures vary by field, so the institutional median does not describe every outcome.

Earnings vary widely across the fields represented at University of Rochester. Earnings scenarios from its program mix run from $48,194 in the downside case to $120,908 in the upside case, with $87,197 as the typical scenario, all four years after completion.

Published program medians show that individual fields do not sit neatly inside those scenarios.

At University of Rochester, borrower debt is below the peer benchmark, a favorable part of the school’s return picture. Among borrowers who completed, median federal student loan debt is $21,000, compared with $24,199 at comparable institutions (same type and size).

The university’s median is below that benchmark by $3,199. That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $239 a month if repaid over ten years.

Graduates earn about $5,997 more than the model expects for similar students. Parent PLUS borrowing is separate from student borrowing, with a median of $30,000 among parent borrowers.

Lower borrower debt and the model’s positive earnings result point in the same direction.

What explains value-added earnings?
Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.
+$8,721
Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.
-$2,724
Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.
+$5,997

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 Rochester briefing

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

University of Rochester admitted 40.1% of applicants, a rate below the median of 71.2% for comparable institutions (same type and size). In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported 21,609 first-year applicants, 9,056 admitted, and 1,231 enrolled.

SAT: reported composite scores
Admission rate
40.1%
25th percentile
1400
Median
1450
75th percentile
1510

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

Read the full admissions brief

04 / University of Rochester briefing

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

At University of Rochester, program choice matches a broad earnings spread across fields with national rankings. In Economics, median earnings are $109,324 four years after completion; 103 degrees were awarded, and Azimuth ranks the field #43 nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Computer Science shows $155,464 in median earnings, 161 degrees awarded, and an Azimuth national rank of #23 among nonprofit four-year institutions. Social Sciences posts $68,333, with 25 degrees awarded and an Azimuth rank of #5 nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Mathematics records $94,178, 70 degrees awarded, and Azimuth's #30 national rank among nonprofit four-year institutions. The higher- and moderate-earning fields show why four-year figures need to be read by field.

At University of Rochester, nationally ranked fields show distinct earnings patterns four years after completion. Azimuth lists 17 bachelor's programs with national ranks among nonprofit four-year institutions in their fields.

Management Science ranks #11 nationally through Azimuth, with 218 degrees awarded and median earnings of $102,625. Azimuth places Computer Science at #23 nationally, alongside 161 degrees awarded and $155,464 in median earnings. Earnings vary across these ranked fields.

Bachelor's degrees at University of Rochester are distributed across several broad fields, with Health Professions leading at 12.8%, Engineering at 11.5% and Social Sciences at 11.1%. Azimuth ranks 17 programs nationally and publishes four-year earnings for 17.

The largest are Nursing at 243, Management Science at 218 and Biology at 183 degrees awarded. Azimuth's highest-ranked program is Social Sciences, which awards 25 degrees a year and posts median earnings of $68,333 four years after completion.

It ranks #2 in New York within its field. Management Science ranks #2 in New York within its field.

The program awards 218 degrees a year and graduates earn $102,625 four years after completion. The highest-earning program is Computer Science, where graduates earn $155,464 from 161 degrees awarded annually.

Electrical Engineering also posts strong earnings, with a median of $105,183 from 65 degrees awarded. Strength is concentrated in a few programs rather than spread evenly.

The highest-ranked fields include both social sciences and quantitative disciplines, while the best earnings sit in engineering and computer science. 39.3% of degrees awarded are in STEM fields, and four-year earnings in areas where many graduates continue to graduate study may understate later trajectories.

Four-year earnings · six largest reported fields
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing 243 degrees awarded
$90,038
Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods 218 degrees awarded
$102,625
Biology, General 183 degrees awarded
$54,937
Research and Experimental Psychology 174 degrees awarded
$65,000
Computer Science 161 degrees awarded
$155,464
Music 128 degrees awarded
$34,888

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 Rochester briefing

How does University of Rochester serve students from different backgrounds?

Graduates earn about $5,997 more than the model expects for similar students. That earnings-beyond-expectations measure, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, sits in the 74th percentile.

For the first-time full-time cohort, the six-year graduation rate is 85.4%; the Pell recipient completion rate is 85.4%, below the overall rate by 0.0 percentage points. Azimuth places University of Rochester's mobility pillar in the 80th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The completion record and modeled earnings measure reinforce the same mobility reading.

At 40.1%, admission is a central part of the access picture at University of Rochester. Undergraduate enrollment totals 6,331, with 17.2% of undergraduates receiving Pell Grants and an estimated 6.7% arriving as transfer-in students.

Among nonprofit four-year institutions, the access pillar falls in the 61st percentile. These figures describe the size of the undergraduate population and the paths through which students enter it.

06 / University of Rochester briefing

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

Admissions peerBrandeis University40.5% admitted
Comparison with University of Rochester
MeasureUniversity of RochesterBrandeis University
Peer earnings · 4 years$87,197$76,742-$10,455 vs University of Rochester
Average annual net price$29,278$35,736+$6,458 vs University of Rochester · higher cost
Admission rate40.1%40.5%
Explore Brandeis University →
Higher-admission alternativeD'Youville University81.4% admitted
Comparison with University of Rochester
MeasureUniversity of RochesterD'Youville University
Peer earnings · 4 years$87,197$84,182-$3,015 vs University of Rochester
Average annual net price$29,278$20,433-$8,845 vs University of Rochester · lower cost
Admission rate40.1%81.4%
Nearby alternativeD'Youville UniversityNearby option · NY
Comparison with University of Rochester
MeasureUniversity of RochesterD'Youville University
Peer earnings · 4 years$87,197$84,182-$3,015 vs University of Rochester
Average annual net price$29,278$20,433-$8,845 vs University of Rochester · lower cost
Admission rate40.1%81.4%
Lower-cost alternativeD'Youville University$20,433 average net price
Comparison with University of Rochester
MeasureUniversity of RochesterD'Youville University
Peer earnings · 4 years$87,197$84,182-$3,015 vs University of Rochester
Average annual net price$29,278$20,433-$8,845 vs University of Rochester · lower cost
Admission rate40.1%81.4%
Similar profileQuinnipiac UniversityMatched across several measures
Comparison with University of Rochester
MeasureUniversity of RochesterQuinnipiac University
Peer earnings · 4 years$87,197$84,363-$2,834 vs University of Rochester
Average annual net price$29,278$40,675+$11,397 vs University of Rochester · higher cost
Admission rate40.1%72.2%
Explore Quinnipiac 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