College dataData from U.S. Dept of EducationUpdated May 2026 · 4 min read
Data: 2026-05 Next refresh: Nov 2026

Yale University: Cost, Graduate Salary, Acceptance Rate and Return on Investment

Yale University is a private nonprofit college in New Haven, CT. Students pay about $23,777 a year in net price, and the median graduate earns $100,533 ten years after enrolling. By our Degree-ROI measure the degree pays back in about 2 years and adds $430,247 over a decade, ranking it #15 of 918 (top 3%) by value added.

Avg net price / yr
$23,777
Median salary (10 yrs)
$100,533
10-yr value added
$430,247
Acceptance rate
3.9%

What is Yale University's acceptance rate?

Yale University has an acceptance rate of 3.9%, which makes it highly selective. It is a private nonprofit institution in New Haven, CT enrolling about 6,758 students, with a 96.0% graduation rate.

How much does Yale University cost?

Yale University costs about $23,777 per year in average net price, what a typical student actually pays after grants and scholarships. Over four years, including typical borrowing, that totals roughly $108,083. Published sticker cost of attendance is $88,300 per year.

How much do Yale University graduates earn?

Ten years after enrolling, the median Yale University student earns $100,533 per year. That is $53,833 more than the $46,700 that the typical worker with only a high-school diploma earns.

Is Yale University worth it? Degree ROI and payback period

Yale University pays back its roughly $108,083 cost in about 2 years, then keeps returning the earnings premium. Over the first decade the degree adds about $430,247 net of cost, a 4.98x return on the money invested. That ranks it #15 of 918 (top 3%) by value added. Its top-tier value is driven mainly by strong graduate earnings and a high graduation rate.

Top 10% value

Yale University graduation rate and student debt

96.0% of Yale University students complete their degree, and the median graduate leaves with $12,975 in federal student debt. That debt is about 13% of one year of median graduate earnings.

Yale University by the numbers (vs the typical college)

How Yale University compares to the median four-year college in our snapshot. Percentile is its rank among the 918 colleges that report both earnings and cost (higher is better).

MetricThis schoolMedian collegePercentile
Avg net price / yr$23,777$20,299cheaper than 35%
Median earnings (10 yrs)$100,533$54,76898th
Graduation rate96.0%57.0%100th
Acceptance rate3.9%75.7%more selective than 100%
10-yr value added$430,247-$28,19298th
ROI multiple (per $1)4.98x0.73x97th
Payback period2 yrs8.8 yrsfaster than 97%
How we compute Degree value-add & ROI. Investment basis = average net price × 4 years + median debt (net price preferred; published sticker cost used as a fallback). Earnings premium = median earnings 10 years after entry minus the $46,700 typical earnings of a worker with only a high-school diploma (BLS Current Population Survey, median annual earnings for workers with a high-school diploma and no college (~$899/week, 2023)). Degree value-add = premium × 10 years minus total cost, the net return of the degree itself over a high-school career (it can be negative). ROI multiple = 10-year premium ÷ cost. Payback = cost ÷ annual premium. Ranked by value-add among the 918 four-year colleges in this snapshot that report both earnings and cost; 226 of them do not pay back at ten years. Missing values are excluded, never estimated.
Open data: these figures come from the public College Scorecard (public domain). Our computed Degree value-add, ROI multiple, and payback are free to cite/reuse under CC-BY 4.0.

Frequently asked

Is Yale University worth the cost compared to other colleges?

By value added net of cost, Yale University ranks #15 of 918 (top 3%) of the 918 four-year colleges we rank, and returns about 4.98x the money invested over a decade.

Is Yale University expensive compared to other colleges?

Its $23,777 average net price is above the $20,299 median for the colleges in this snapshot, making it cheaper than 35% of them.

Do Yale University graduates earn more than average?

Median earnings of $100,533 ten years out are above the $54,768 median, higher than 98% of the colleges here.

How hard is it to get into Yale University compared to other colleges?

Its 3.9% acceptance rate is below the 75.7% median, making it more selective than 100% of the colleges in the snapshot.

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