Outcomes
What it pays
Former students earn a median $109,183 ten years after enrolling, more than at 99% of colleges; 90% graduate within six years. Four years of net price is about 2.3 years of that salary.
Earnings
Earnings climb with time
Staying and finishing
Retention
come back for year two
Graduation
graduate within six years
National median graduation rate: 59%
What graduates owe
$19.2K
According to Santa Clara University's most recent Common Data Set, 33% of its Class of 2025 graduates (1,363 students) borrowed from any source: federal, institutional, state, or private, averaging $28,838 among those who did.
Counts students who started here as first-time students and earned a bachelor's; the federal median counts federal loans only, including students who left without a degree.
Everyone who starts here, 8 years later
Students who entered in fall 2016, including and part-time students. The graduation rate counts only first-time, full-time students and treats a transfer out as not finishing.
88 of 100 students who start here earn a degree or certificate here within 8 years; 8 more are enrolled at another college. (1,486 students)
All entering students, by whether they had a Pell Grant.
83 of 100 finish within 4 years, 88 within 6, and 88 within 8.
| Earned a credential within | 4 yrs | 6 yrs | 8 yrs |
|---|---|---|---|
| All students | 83% | 88% | 88% |
| Started in college here | 85% | 88% | 89% |
| Transferred in | 69% | 85% | 85% |
Transfer students' clock starts when they arrive here, not when they first started college.
National median: 60% of all entering students earn a credential at the college they started at within 8 years.
Do lower-income students finish?
Pell Grant recipients: 85%, 3 points below students with no need-based federal aid (88%). First-time, full-time students who finished within 6 years; entered fall 2018.
- Pell Grant recipients168 students
85% · 3 points below students with neither
- Subsidized loan, no Pell Grant187 students
90% · 2 points above students with neither
- Neither Pell nor subsidized loan1,036 students
88% · comparison group
By race and ethnicity
First-time, full-time students who finished within 6 years, from the College Scorecard's most recent release. Groups under 30 students aren't shown.
- White623 students
88% · the same as all students
- Asian248 students
87% · 1 point below all students
- Hispanic/Latino249 students
92% · 4 points above all students
- Black36 students
86% · 2 points below all students
- Two or more races126 students
89% · 1 point above all students
- International75 students
81% · 7 points below all students
- American Indian/Alaska Native1 students
Not shown: under 30 students
- Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander2 students
Not shown: under 30 students
Cost vs. earnings
The 300 most-applied-to colleges plus Santa Clara University. Top-left is lower cost and higher earnings.
↑ Median earnings 10 years after entry (higher = more)
Sources:College Scorecard, most recent release;Santa Clara University Common Data Set 2025–26, Entered fall 2024;IPEDS Outcome Measures survey, Students entering fall 2016;IPEDS Graduation Rates survey (Pell Grant and subsidized loan recipients), Entered fall 2018;IPEDS Institutional Characteristics survey, 2023–24;IPEDS Student Financial Aid survey, 2023–24;Santa Clara University Common Data Set 2025–26, Class of 2025About the data(retrieved 2026-10-12)