10-yr median earnings
$61,415
Federal aid recipients only
Public · Montclair, New Jersey
Montclair State University
Montclair State University is a public institution in Montclair, New Jersey. as a public institution, published Scorecard outcomes are the federal Title-IV cohort view of former students — not every graduate and not a guarantee for any one enrollee.
- $15,566
- Avg net price / yr
- $61,415
- 10-yr median earnings
- 64.5%
- 150%-time completion
- 87.9%
- Acceptance rate
The verdict
Montclair State University pairs top-quartile former-student earnings with open admission.
According to the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard.
- Top 14%
- former-student earnings, US
- 87.9%
- acceptance rate
- 64.5%
- 150%-time completion
- +28%
- earnings, 6→10 yrs
Suburb: Large
Carnegie: R2
Institution data retrieved July 2026; field-of-study data retrieved March 2026.
How to read this Montclair State University profile
Figures above come from IPEDS institution records published through the College Scorecard (retrieved July 2026 for institution fields; March 2026 for field-of-study). Peer groups and cost cohorts follow IPEDS ownership sector, Carnegie class ("Doctoral Universities: High Research Activity"), and locale, not an editorial shortlist.
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; income-band fields add context but do not replace the school's current net-price calculator.
Earnings use Treasury-linked records for federally aided former students who were working and not enrolled in the measurement year (completers and noncompleters). IPEDS completion and retention use separate first-time, full-time cohorts, so those denominators are not the earnings cohort. Read cost, completion, and earnings as distinct historical measures, not a causal verdict or individual forecast.
College Value Score
C+
College Value Score
62/100
Montclair State University
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-
$61,415
10-year median former-student earnings
Net Price C
$15,566
Average annual cost after grants and aid
Completion Rate C+
64.5%
Completion within 150% of normal time
Debt F
$22,000
Median federal debt at graduation
Loan Repayment B+
72.5%
Borrowers repaying loans within 3 years
Retention C
77.9%
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
$15,566
After grants and scholarships
150%-time completion
64.5%
Full-time, first-time cohort
150%-time completion vs portal median (57.1%) 64.5%
Four-year-institution cohort
College ROI Quadrant - Montclair State University 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 Montclair State University 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.
Montclair State University: former-student earnings vs. every US college
10-year median earnings, College Scorecard
$61,415 Top 14% higher than 86% 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
| Metric | Montclair State University | National rank | Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-yr median earnings | $61,415 | #735 of 5103 | 86th |
| Average net price | $15,566 | #2199 of 5020 | 56th (lower is better) |
| 150%-time completion | 64.5% | #1866 of 4858 | 62nd |
| Undergraduate enrollment | 18,376 | #155 of 5462 | 97th |
National ranks count every operating US college reporting each metric to the College Scorecard, separate from the earnings histogram above.
Quick Facts
18,376
Undergraduate enrollment
87.9%
Acceptance rate
1,070
SAT average
64.5%
150%-time completion
$61,415
10-yr median earnings
77.9%
First-year retention
How Montclair State University ranks in New Jersey
State rank among 110 reporting New Jersey colleges with College Scorecard data, a separate lens from the national distribution above.
| Metric | Montclair State University | State rank | Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-yr median earnings | $61,415 | #25 of 110 | 77th |
| Average net price | $15,566 | #54 of 129 | 58th (lower is better) |
| 150%-time completion | 64.5% | #52 of 126 | 59th |
| Undergraduate enrollment | 18,376 | #2 of 144 | 99th |
Highest former-student earnings in New Jersey
| # | School | 10-yr earnings | Net price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Princeton University | $110,066 | $6,128 |
| 2 | Stevens Institute of Technology | $108,772 | $41,346 |
| 3 | Chamberlain University-New Jersey | $92,405 | $37,984 |
| 4 | Holy Name Medical Center-Sister Claire Tynan School of Nursing | $87,408 | - |
| 5 | New Jersey Institute of Technology | $84,276 | $16,504 |
| 6 | Yeshivas Be'er Yitzchok | $82,560 | $28,599 |
| 7 | Rutgers University-New Brunswick | $74,479 | $24,406 |
| 8 | Rutgers University-Newark | $74,479 | $19,703 |
| 9 | Rutgers University-Camden | $74,479 | $18,745 |
| 10 | Aviation Institute of Maintenance-Teterboro | $73,971 | $24,800 |
| 11 | JFK Muhlenberg Harold B. and Dorothy A. Snyder Schools | $73,894 | $40,644 |
| 12 | The College of New Jersey | $73,323 | $27,646 |
| 24 | Montclair State UniversityThis school | $61,415 | $15,566 |
Admissions
| Admission Rate | 87.9% |
| SAT Average | 1,070 |
| SAT Math (25th-75th) | 430 – 590 |
| SAT Reading (25th-75th) | 480 – 620 |
Costs & Financial Aid
Net price by family income at Montclair State University
Average annual net price after grants; Title IV recipient cohort by income bracket
- $0 – $30k
$0 – $30k
$10,880 net price / yr
- $30k – $48k
$30k – $48k
$11,532 net price / yr
- $48k – $75k
$48k – $75k
$16,388 net price / yr
- $110k+
$110k+
$25,573 net price / yr
What this shows Need-based aid pulls net price down at lower brackets at Montclair State University - compare the bar for your income band, not the overall average alone.
Tuition & Net Price
| In-State Tuition | $15,912 |
| Out-of-State Tuition | $26,022 |
| Average Net Price | $15,566 |
47.0%
Pell Grant Rate
40.5%
Federal Loan Rate
$22,000
Median Debt
$233/mo
Monthly Payment
Montclair State University costs less today than it did in 2013
Average net price fell from $19,960 to $14,159 (-29.1%) between 2013 and 2023, before any inflation adjustment, which makes the real-terms fall larger still. Most colleges moved the other way: the median change across the 4,315 schools measured over the same span was +14.6%.
11 reported years. Nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation.
2013 · $19,9602023 · $14,159
Over the same years, enrollment went +16.4% (15,182 → 17,677 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
62.6%
Female
41.2%
First Generation
Outcomes
77.9%
Retention Rate
$47,944
Median Earnings (6yr)
69.0%
Earning Over $25K
72.5%
Loan Repayment, Completers (3yr)
Outcomes & debt snapshot
| Measure | Cohort / horizon | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Completion within 150% of normal time | First-time, full-time | 64.5% |
| First-year retention | First-time, full-time freshmen | 77.9% |
| Median earnings | 6 years after entry | $47,944 |
| Median earnings | 10 years after entry | $61,415 |
| Share earning over $25,000 | Working, not enrolled | 69.0% |
| Loan repayment rate | Completers, 3 years after leaving | 72.5% |
| Median federal student debt | At completion | $22,000 |
| Estimated monthly payment | Standard 10-year plan | $233/mo |
Programs & Earnings
Field-of-study summary by credential
| Credential | Programs | Award count | Avg earnings | Top earnings | Avg debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor's | 43 | 3,073 | $58,243 | $109,167 | $23,461 |
| Master's | 18 | 1,129 | $76,469 | $117,544 | $35,065 |
| Graduate Certificate | 3 | 18 | $87,324 | $91,810 | - |
| Post-baccalaureate Certificate | 1 | 0 | - | - | - |
Top programs at Montclair State University by completer earnings
Median earnings of program completers, College Scorecard field-of-study file
- Business Administration, M…
Business Administration, Management and Operations
$117,544 median earnings
- Registered Nursing, Nursin…
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing
$109,167 median earnings
- Computer and Information S…
Computer and Information Sciences, General
$108,975 median earnings
- Educational Administration…
Educational Administration and Supervision
$91,810 median earnings
- Educational Administration…
Educational Administration and Supervision
$87,244 median earnings
- Accounting and Related Ser…
Accounting and Related Services
$84,906 median earnings
- Social Work
Social Work
$82,838 median earnings
- Biochemistry, Biophysics a…
Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology
$81,519 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.
Nearby Schools
Universal Technical Institute-Bloomfield
Bloomfield, NJ
1,428 students
Berkeley College-Woodland Park
Woodland Park, NJ
1,778 students
Empire Beauty School-Bloomfield
Bloomfield, NJ
164 students
Eastern School of Acupuncture and Traditional Medicine
Bloomfield, NJ
2 students
Bloomfield College of Montclair State University
Bloomfield, NJ
781 students
Explore Data-Matched Colleges
Matches use Scorecard measures among reporting colleges — not state-system recommendations or geographic proximity.
Similar Enrollment and Sector
Other Public institutions closest in reported enrollment, preferring the same Carnegie classification.
Similar Reported Net Price
Other Public institutions with the nearest reported average net price.
University of Houston-Clear Lake
Houston, TX
$15,563 net price · $3 apart
North Dakota State University-Main Campus
Fargo, ND
$15,543 net price · $23 apart
Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Greater Allegheny
McKeesport, PA
$15,521 net price · $45 apart
West Virginia University
Morgantown, WV
$15,634 net price · $68 apart
Similar 2013–2023 Net-Price Trend
Same-sector institutions with the same direction and nearest fitted annual change; only series with R² of at least 0.40 qualify.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the acceptance rate at Montclair State University? ▼
Montclair State University is a public institution in Montclair, New Jersey. The acceptance rate is 87.9%. The average SAT score is 1,070. Undergraduate enrollment is 18,376 students.
How much do Montclair State University former students earn? ▼
Federally aided former students at Montclair State University who were working and not enrolled had median earnings of $61,415 ten years after entry; the cohort is not limited to graduates. Six years after entry, the corresponding median is $47,944.
How much does Montclair State University cost? ▼
The average net price at Montclair State University is $15,566. In-state tuition is $15,912 and out-of-state tuition is $26,022. Median student debt at graduation is $22,000.
What is the graduation rate at Montclair State University? ▼
Montclair State University has a 64.5% 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 77.9%.
Is Montclair State University worth the student debt? ▼
The median student debt at Montclair State University is $22,000, while former students earn a median of $61,415 ten years after enrollment. That debt represents about 36% of those annual earnings. Among borrowers who completed their program, 72.5% are repaying their loans within 3 years. Estimated monthly loan payment is $233.
Sources & methodology
Public-college profiles lean on IPEDS enrollment and Scorecard Title-IV outcomes. State appropriations are outside this page; the figures below are the federal cohort measures only.
Every number is read live from the Mar–Jul 2026 Scorecard/IPEDS retrievals. Public institutions often enroll large Title-IV cohorts, so medians can be stable — still cohort averages, never a personal forecast. 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).
Where to go next from Montclair State University
- Compare Montclair State University against schools with similar outcomes at a lower average net price.Find similar schools that cost less
- Browse every reporting college in New Jersey side by side.Browse New Jersey
- See how fields of study differ on former-student earnings and debt.Explore programs
Public-college Scorecard figures are historical Title-IV cohort averages — confirm current tuition, aid, and admissions rules with the institution before deciding.
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. Public-institution profiles compile Scorecard Title-IV earnings, IPEDS enrollment/admissions, and Treasury linkage 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.