Houghton University

What the IPEDS & College Scorecard Data Shows for Houghton University

Houghton University operates as a private nonprofit institution located in Houghton, New York (rural: remote), with a total reported enrollment of 753 students of which 1,035 are undergraduates. Institution-level records in the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) classify each school by Carnegie category, ownership sector, and urban/rural locale, which is how this profile’s peer group and cost cohort are determined. Houghton University is categorized as “21” under the Carnegie classification system, a meaningful signal when comparing like-to-like institutions.

Selectivity and financial signals give context to what applicants can expect. The reported admission rate is 88.7%, drawn from the most recent IPEDS Fall enrollment survey, with an average SAT of 1,284 and an ACT midpoint of 26. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $20,519, with published in-state tuition of $18,430 and a Pell grant recipient share of 28.5%. Median federal student debt at graduation is $25,250, drawn from the U.S. Treasury-matched College Scorecard file.

Outcomes reveal whether the investment pays back. The 4-year completion rate is 64.9%, and the first-year retention rate is 84.0%. Graduates earn a median of $46,721 ten years after enrolling, compared with $36,376 six years post-enrollment. Within three years of entering repayment, 63000.0% of borrowers are making progress on their federal loans, and 60.7% of graduates earn above the high-school threshold. Treating these numbers as a single snapshot alongside the cost cohort is the standard approach for evaluating ROI under the College Scorecard methodology.