10-yr median earnings
$91,410
Federal aid recipients only
Private Nonprofit · Easton, Pennsylvania
Lafayette College
Lafayette College is a private nonprofit institution in Easton, Pennsylvania. Former students earn a median of $91,410 ten years after enrollment at an average net price of $34,433/yr — as a private nonprofit, published Scorecard outcomes cover federal-aid recipients at this campus — endowment and sticker price sit outside those cohort fields.
- $91,410
- 10-yr median earnings
- 31.4%
- Acceptance rate
- $34,433
- Avg net price / yr
- 87.8%
- 150%-time completion
The verdict
Lafayette College pairs top-5% former-student earnings with a selective admit.
According to the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard.
- Top 2%
- former-student earnings, US
- 31.4%
- acceptance rate
- 87.8%
- 150%-time completion
- +13%
- earnings, 6→10 yrs
Suburb: Large
Carnegie: Bacc: A&S
Lafayette College is a private nonprofit institution in Easton, Pennsylvania enrolling 2,757 undergraduates, using College Scorecard institution data retrieved in July 2026. The acceptance rate is 31.4% with an average SAT of 1,424. Federally aided former students who were working and not enrolled had median earnings of $91,410 ten years after entry. Average net price for the reported Title IV-recipient cohort is $34,433. This profile combines source fields with separately labeled PlainCollege comparisons and derived metrics.
Institution data retrieved July 2026; field-of-study data retrieved March 2026.
What the IPEDS & College Scorecard Data Shows for Lafayette College
Lafayette College operates as a private nonprofit institution located in Easton, Pennsylvania (suburb: large), with a reported undergraduate enrollment of 2,757 students. 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; Lafayette College is categorized as "Baccalaureate Colleges: Arts & Sciences Focus" under the Carnegie classification system, a meaningful signal when comparing like-to-like institutions.
Admissions and cost fields are IPEDS-derived values published through the Scorecard and retain their source reporting periods. Average net price subtracts grant and scholarship aid from cost of attendance for full-time, first-time undergraduate Title IV recipients. It is a defined cohort average, not a personalized price; the income-band fields provide more context but still do not replace an institution's current net-price calculator.
Earnings use Treasury-derived records for federally aided former students who were working and not enrolled in the measurement year; the entry cohort includes completers and noncompleters. IPEDS completion and retention rates use separate first-time, full-time cohorts, so their denominator is not the earnings cohort. Read cost, completion, and earnings as distinct historical measures, not as a causal verdict or an individual forecast.
College Value Score
B-
College Value Score
69/100
Lafayette College
A 6-metric composite of earnings, cost, and completion outcomes benchmarked against every reporting US college, not a ranking of teaching quality, campus life, or fit for any individual student. See the full methodology.
Earnings A+
$91,410
10-year median former-student earnings
Net Price F
$34,433
Average annual cost after grants and aid
Completion Rate A+
87.8%
Completion within 150% of normal time
Debt D
$16,000
Median federal debt at graduation
Loan Repayment A+
92.6%
Borrowers repaying loans within 3 years
Retention A-
89.7%
First-year students returning for year two
Each axis is the percentile score shown in the breakdown at left; the shape shows this school's overall profile at a glance.
Avg net price
$34,433
After grants and scholarships
150%-time completion
87.8%
Full-time, first-time cohort
150%-time completion vs portal median (57.1%) 87.8%
Four-year-institution cohort
College ROI Quadrant - Lafayette College vs peers
Each dot is a college plotted by 10-year median earnings (x-axis) vs average net price (y-axis), colored by completion within 150% of normal time. Bottom-right = high earnings/lower price; top-left = lower earnings/higher price.
How Lafayette College ranks nationally
Where this school's former-student earnings fall within the full national distribution of every US college that reports to the College Scorecard, not just its peer set.
Lafayette College: former-student earnings vs. every US college
10-year median earnings, College Scorecard
$91,410 Top 2% higher than 98% of 5,103 US colleges
Each bar is a $20K-wide band; taller bars hold more US colleges. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard · Mar–Jul 2026 retrievals
Quick Facts
2,757
Undergraduate enrollment
31.4%
Acceptance rate
1,424
SAT average
87.8%
150%-time completion
$91,410
10-yr median earnings
89.7%
First-year retention
Admissions
| Admission Rate | 31.4% |
| SAT Average | 1,424 |
| SAT Math (25th-75th) | 680 – 760 |
| SAT Reading (25th-75th) | 670 – 740 |
| ACT Average | 32 |
| ACT (25th-75th) | 31 – 33 |
Share of applicants admitted
Costs & Financial Aid
Tuition & Net Price
| In-State Tuition | $65,398 |
| Out-of-State Tuition | $65,398 |
| Average Net Price | $34,433 |
Net Price by Family Income
| $0 – $30,000 | $12,716 |
| $30,001 – $48,000 | $7,445 |
| $48,001 – $75,000 | $10,881 |
| Over $110,000 | $52,608 |
11.7%
Pell Grant Rate
19.6%
Federal Loan Rate
$16,000
Median Debt
$170/mo
Monthly Payment
Net price at Lafayette College swings rather than trends
Across 11 reported years between 2013 and 2023, the average net price here has ranged from $29,884 to $41,937 without settling into a rise or a fall. Comparing only the first and last years would read as +5.5%, but the years in between do not follow that line, so the honest summary is the range rather than a trend. Budget against the upper end, not the average.
Lowest year
$29,884
Highest year
$41,937
Most recent (2023)
$32,496
11 reported years. Nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation.
2013 · $30,8042023 · $32,496
Over the same years, enrollment went +12.0% (2,452 → 2,746 students).
Source: U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, per-year fields (2013–2023). Net price is the average cost after grant and scholarship aid for federally-aided undergraduates.
Student Demographics
Race & ethnicity
Student body at a glance
57.9%
Female
14.8%
First Generation
Outcomes
87.8%
150%-Time Completion
89.7%
Retention Rate
$80,614
Median Earnings (6yr)
$91,410
Median Earnings (10yr)
85.2%
Earning Over $25K
92.6%
Loan Repayment, Completers (3yr)
Programs & Earnings
Top programs at Lafayette College by completer earnings
Median earnings of program completers, College Scorecard field-of-study file
- Chemical Engineering
Chemical Engineering
$115,726 median earnings
- Economics
Economics
$112,864 median earnings
- Engineering, General
Engineering, General
$104,222 median earnings
- Mechanical Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
$101,348 median earnings
- Political Science and Gove…
Political Science and Government
$87,904 median earnings
- Biology, General
Biology, General
$82,109 median earnings
- Psychology, General
Psychology, General
$73,435 median earnings
- English Language and Liter…
English Language and Literature, General
$53,050 median earnings
What this shows The highest-earning programs at a school are not necessarily its most popular ones - a small specialized program can post strong median earnings without reflecting the outcome most students here actually see.
| Program | Credential | Completers | Median Earnings | Median Debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chemical Engineering | Bachelor's | 31 | $115,726 | $17,000 |
| Economics | Bachelor's | 140 | $112,864 | $19,500 |
| Engineering, General | Bachelor's | 24 | $104,222 | - |
| Mechanical Engineering | Bachelor's | 63 | $101,348 | $19,500 |
| Political Science and Government | Bachelor's | 84 | $87,904 | $13,640 |
| Biology, General | Bachelor's | 48 | $82,109 | $17,000 |
| Psychology, General | Bachelor's | 66 | $73,435 | $16,000 |
| English Language and Literature, General | Bachelor's | 32 | $53,050 | $16,500 |
| Civil Engineering | Bachelor's | 33 | - | $16,000 |
| Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering | Bachelor's | 17 | - | - |
| Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics | Bachelor's | 8 | - | - |
| Neurobiology and Neurosciences | Bachelor's | 46 | - | - |
| Mathematics | Bachelor's | 20 | - | - |
| Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences | Bachelor's | 9 | - | - |
| International Relations and National Security Studies | Bachelor's | 37 | - | $16,620 |
Nearby Schools
Explore Data-Matched Colleges
Independent Scorecard matches among reporting colleges — not recommendations from the institution or a counselor.
Similar Enrollment and Sector
Other Private Nonprofit institutions closest in reported enrollment, preferring the same Carnegie classification.
Similar Reported Net Price
Other Private Nonprofit institutions with the nearest reported average net price.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the acceptance rate at Lafayette College? ▼
Lafayette College is a private nonprofit institution in Easton, Pennsylvania. The acceptance rate is 31.4%. The average SAT score is 1,424. Undergraduate enrollment is 2,757 students.
How much do Lafayette College former students earn? ▼
Federally aided former students at Lafayette College who were working and not enrolled had median earnings of $91,410 ten years after entry; the cohort is not limited to graduates. Six years after entry, the corresponding median is $80,614.
How much does Lafayette College cost? ▼
The average net price at Lafayette College is $34,433. In-state tuition is $65,398 and out-of-state tuition is $65,398. Median student debt at graduation is $16,000.
What is the graduation rate at Lafayette College? ▼
Lafayette College has a 87.8% completion rate within 150% of normal time at a four-year institution (typically six years for a bachelor’s program). The first-year retention rate is 89.7%.
Is Lafayette College worth the student debt? ▼
The median student debt at Lafayette College is $16,000, while former students earn a median of $91,410 ten years after enrollment. That debt represents about 18% of those annual earnings. Among borrowers who completed their program, 92.6% are repaying their loans within 3 years. Estimated monthly loan payment is $170.
Sources & methodology
Private-nonprofit profiles emphasize Scorecard cost-after-aid and completion alongside IPEDS Carnegie class. Endowment, gifts, and sticker price are not Scorecard fields on this page.
Figures are the Mar–Jul 2026 federal retrievals. Nonprofit campuses vary widely in aid practice — net price here is the Title-IV-recipient cohort average, not an individual award letter. Read the full methodology for how the data is sourced, computed, and verified.
- College Scorecard, U.S. Department of Education - former-student earnings, cost & completion (collegescorecard.ed.gov).
- IPEDS, National Center for Education Statistics - enrollment, admissions, Carnegie class & demographics (nces.ed.gov/ipeds).
- U.S. Treasury / IRS earnings linkage - median earnings 6 & 10 years after enrollment for federal-aid recipients (irs.gov).
- College Scorecard, Field of Study - program-level (credential) earnings & debt (collegescorecard.ed.gov).
- Federal Student Aid (Title IV / NSLDS) - U.S. Department of Education - net price, student debt & aid-recipient repayment outcomes (studentaid.gov).
What this means for Lafayette College
- Lafayette College's reported 10-year former-student earnings land in the 98th percentile among reporting colleges.
- The average net price after aid is $34,433 - compare it against schools with similar outcomes but a lower cost.Find similar schools that cost less
- See how this school compares to every other college in Pennsylvania.Browse Pennsylvania
Nonprofit Scorecard medians describe federal-aid recipients who were working and not enrolled — they are not sticker-price ROI and not advice.
Every figure on PlainCollege is rendered directly from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard data, no number is typed in by an editor. Private-nonprofit profiles compile Scorecard net-price and earnings cohorts with IPEDS structure fields — no editor-typed figures. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error on this page. Review the public data changelog. Data current as of Mar–Jul 2026 retrievals.