A parent's read

  • The payoff holds even at full price: roughly 11× over a decade. With no aid at all — the full in-state ~$13,905/yr — a decade of median earnings (~$63,163/yr) still runs about 11× the four-year cost. This payoff doesn't depend on qualifying for anything. (Out-of-state costs more.)
  • Ask the submit question deliberately. This college is test-optional — but at many such colleges, applicants who submit strong scores are admitted at meaningfully higher rates. “Optional” is a strategy decision, not a pass.

Composed from this page's data — every claim is backed by a number in the sections below.

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Odds at Hunter College (CUNY)

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Live odds from each college's own published admissions data.

Parent/student verdict

Moderately selective

Solid match for academically prepared students. Affordable — net price averages ~$2,984/yr among aid recipients. Major value play for in-state residents.

Best for

  • Strong academic profiles — students here cluster in the top test and GPA tiers (bands above)
  • In-state residents (tuition ~$7,382 — major value play)
  • Students drawn to Psychology or Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies (the two biggest majors)

The reality

  • You'd be near the bottom of their admitted class if: SAT below 1210, or unweighted GPA below ~3.80 (test bands are the school's own; the GPA floor is our estimate, not a published figure)

Verdict is composed from this college's structured data (admit rate, SAT bands, net price with aid and at full price, Carnegie classification, scholarship grids) using transparent rule thresholds — not a chat-bot's opinion.

What are your child's odds here?

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Weighted is the higher GPA, with honors/AP credit in it — pick whichever your school reports. PSAT scores work in the SAT box.

Institutional snapshot

What kind of college is this?

Carnegie classification
M1: Master's - Larger Programs
Undergraduates
16,289
20,000 and above including graduate students
In-state tuitionThe published full price before any aid. Families who don't qualify for need-based aid at a given college pay this, minus any merit scholarships — whether you qualify depends on the college's price and policies, not on any fixed income line.
$7,382
sticker, before aid
Out-of-state tuition
$15,332
+$7,950 vs in-state
Admit rateThe share of applicants a college accepts. Useful context, but your student's odds depend on their own grades and scores, not the average.
54.0%
Moderately selective
SAT middle 50%The middle half of the enrolled first-years who sent this test scored in this range — a quarter of them scored BELOW the low end and still got in, and a quarter scored above the high end. At a test-optional college the students who submitted are often a minority of the class, so the range describes them rather than everyone who enrolled. Above the top number is a genuine strength; below the bottom isn't automatic rejection.
1210–1470
EBRW + Math composite
Test policyApplicants choose whether to send SAT/ACT scores. At many such colleges, students who submit strong scores are still admitted at higher rates.
Test-optional
2023
10-yr earningsMedian yearly pay of former students ten years after they STARTED here — not ten years after graduating — all majors combined. The broadest single outcome number a college reports.
$63,163
median, after entry

9% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score — this range describes students who submitted, not the whole class.

Source: federal IPEDS Admissions 2023 for scores + admit rate; federal College Scorecard (20260606 vintage) for earnings + outcomes. SAT/ACT bands are the 25th–75th percentile of enrolled submitters.

Outcomes & cost

What graduates actually earn, finish, and owe.

Federal College Scorecard data. Earnings are median annual income measured years after entering. Debt is for federal-aid borrowers only (cash-pay students aren't counted).

Earnings, 6 yrs after entry
$50,414
Earnings, 10 yrs after entryMedian yearly pay of former students ten years after they STARTED here — not ten years after graduating — all majors combined. The broadest single outcome number a college reports.
$63,163
Graduate within 6 yrsThe share of students who start here and finish a bachelor's within six years — the standard federal measure, and the one College Scorecard publishes. It is not a four-year rate. Read it as the odds of finishing at all: nationally about a third of students who start never do, and an unfinished degree is the most expensive outcome in this decision.
57%
Median debt (completers)The federal-loan balance of the typical graduating borrower. Families who pay cash aren't counted, so read it as "among those who borrowed."
$11,000

The real cost

What Hunter College (CUNY) actually costs

If you qualify for need aidGrant money based on your family's finances (via FAFSA and the college's own forms), not your student's stats.
$2,984/yr
average among aid-receiving families, all incomes — your number depends on your finances
If you don't
$13,905/yr
the full published price for in-state students — out-of-state runs higher

Which side your family lands on isn't set by any national income line — it's set by Hunter College (CUNY)'s own aid decision: the gap between its price and your family's finances.

Hunter College (CUNY)'s own published aid policy · 2026-27

Tuition-free under $125,000

Who qualifies: NY residents; state Excelsior program, tuition only.

The Excelsior Scholarship, in combination with other student financial aid programs, allows students to attend a SUNY or CUNY college tuition-free. ... Applicants must have a combined federal adjusted gross income of $125,000 or less. ... A recipient of an Excelsior Scholarship may receive up to $5,500.

Income thresholds assume typical assets. Policy independently verified against the college's financial-aid pages ↗.

Get your family's number — Hunter College (CUNY)'s Net Price Calculator ↗ 10–15 minutes; have a tax return handy. It's still an estimate — but it's this college's own, built from your family's numbers, not anyone's average.
Start your Family Decision Report →

Your odds + estimated cost across your whole college list, side by side.

The payoffTen years of typical graduate pay minus four years of cost — how many dollars ahead a typical graduate runs by year ten. Check both the full-price and with-aid versions to see which applies to you; median pay reflects who a college admits and what they study as much as the college itself., both ways

+$576K ahead at full price +$620K with aid
Full price, no aidThe all-in yearly price — tuition, housing, food, books, fees — before any aid. This is the real "full price," not just the tuition line. (4 yrs, in-state)
$55,620
~$13,905/yr all-in (out-of-state runs higher)
Aid recipients pay (4 yrs)
$11,936
$2,984/yr average
10-yr earnings total
$631,630
$63,163/yr median, 10 yrs out
Years to recoup the cost
0.9 yrs
at full price (0.2 with aid), at the median earnings rate

Source: College Scorecard (average net price among Title IV first-time, full-time undergraduates who received aid) and each college's published cost of attendance. We don't show the federal net-price-by-income brackets: their categories were fixed in 2008 and never adjusted, and none of the averages is your family's own number — the full story. Payoff = (10-yr median earnings × 10) − (4 years of cost), in dollars — how far ahead a typical graduate runs by year ten; medians travel with the students a college admits and the majors they choose as much as with the college itself. Full price is the published cost of attendance, largely in-state for publics; earnings are 10 years after enrollment, all majors combined.

What students study here

Most popular majors at Hunter College (CUNY)

Top 5 fields of study by bachelor's degrees awarded (most recent IPEDS Completions). Use this to see what Hunter College (CUNY) actually graduates — not just what it markets.

1. Psychology
620 degrees · 29.9%
Most undergrad psych grads go into non-clinical roles. Clinical/counseling psych requires a master's or doctoral.
2. Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies
456 degrees · 22.0%
Often paired with another field (data + biology, design + tech). Outcomes match the second discipline.
3. Social Sciences
452 degrees · 21.8%
Economics + poli sci sub-disciplines pay much more than sociology + anthropology.
4. Computer & Information Sciences
283 degrees · 13.7%
High-paying tech roles dominate. Median software roles cluster in the $90k-$130k range.
5. Health Professions
262 degrees · 12.6%
Highest-paying group on this list, but most careers require additional training beyond a 4-year degree.

What those majors earn here

Median earnings 4 years after entry, by major — Hunter College (CUNY)'s own graduates, not national averages.

Major (CIP) Credential Cohort 1-yr earnings 4-yr earnings
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing. Bachelor's Degree 172 $103,692 $116,361
Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science/Research and Allied Professions. Bachelor's Degree 33 $86,173 $104,791
Computer Science. Bachelor's Degree 276 $76,747 $102,321
Human Biology. Bachelor's Degree 442 $31,891 $83,420
Mathematics. Bachelor's Degree 43 $48,918 $80,308
Accounting and Related Services. Bachelor's Degree 85 $54,617 $75,803
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods. Bachelor's Degree 73 $36,410 $73,857
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas. Bachelor's Degree 37 $49,245 $72,919
Social Work. Bachelor's Degree 43 $42,227 $70,273
Economics. Bachelor's Degree 144 $34,580 $69,920

Sources: IPEDS Completions (C2023_a; bachelor's-level first majors, 2-digit CIP family — share is of the top 5 only) · College Scorecard program-level outcomes (PP-FOS). Full college-vs-major comparison: /college-outcomes →

Student body & economic mobility

Who attends here — and what the campus adds.

Opportunity Insights data. It measures two things at once: how many lower-income students a college enrols, and how many of them reach the top earnings quintile later. A high rate says the college does both — it does not establish that the campus caused the earnings, because the students it admits differ from the students it doesn't. Read it as a signal about access and destination, not as proof of value added.

Top-1% access
0.6%
from top-1% households
Mobility rateThe share of ALL students who arrived from the bottom 20% of family incomes AND reached the top 20% themselves by their early 30s — access and lift in one number, and a sign the campus itself adds earnings power.
7.5%
bottom 20% → top 20% by age 32
Upward rate
35.6%
of lower-income students who reach the top 20%
Pell recipientsStudents receiving federal Pell grants, which go to lower- and middle-income families — the standard shorthand for a college's economic mix.
56%
on federal need grants — context for these numbers

Full leaderboards: /college-mobility →

AI program signal

AI + computing education at Hunter College (CUNY)

CS degrees (annual)
293
CIP 11.0701 + 11.0101

Full multi-lens comparison: /ai-colleges →

Alternatives to Hunter College (CUNY)

Matched not just by selectivity, but by strategic goal — what a family actually decides on.

Better merit-aid options
These similar-selectivity schools publish merit scholarships your family can plan around — your kid’s stats could unlock real scholarship dollars.
University of Alabama in Huntsville
AL · Public
39 stats-based merit scholarships
Texas Tech University
TX · Public
30 stats-based + 1 competitive scholarships
The University of Alabama
AL · Public
21 stats-based + 2 competitive scholarships
Safer in-state options
Same state and similar selectivity, but with a more forgiving admit rate — useful safety / match anchors.
CUNY Queens College
NY · Public
68% admit rate (vs 54% here)
University at Buffalo
NY · Public
69% admit rate (vs 54% here)
SUNY Oneonta
NY · Public
70% admit rate (vs 54% here)
More students move up here
Per Opportunity Insights, a larger share of these campuses' lower-income students reach the top earnings quintile than at Hunter College (CUNY). That reflects who they admit as well as what they do, so read it as a destination signal rather than proof of value added.
CUNY Bernard M Baruch College
NY · Public
12.9% mobility rate (vs 7.5% here)
CUNY City College
NY · Public
11.7% mobility rate (vs 7.5% here)
MCPHS University
MA · Private nonprofit
9.3% mobility rate (vs 7.5% here)

Or compare any college side-by-side

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Feeder high schools

Which high schools send graduates to Hunter College (CUNY)?

5 high schools publish a numbered matriculation list — where their graduates actually enrolled, counted, in the school's own School Profile — and name Hunter College (CUNY) on it. Between them they printed 5 enrolled graduates. Ranked by graduates per class year enrolling at Hunter College (CUNY), from each school's own published list: the number that school printed, divided by the class years its list covers. The published total and the school's own years label are shown beside every school, so a one-year list and a five-year list can sit on the same page. A list whose class years we cannot read is not divided by a guess — it is listed below with its total instead.

High school · years its list covers Enrolled per class year
Notre Dame School of Manhattan · Class of 2025 1.0 · 1 over 1 class year
Greenhill School · 2022 - 2025 0.2 · 1 over 4 class years
Loyola School · 2023-2026 0.2 · 1 over 4 class years
The Browning School · Classes of 2022-26 0.2 · 1 over 5 class years
The Seven Hills School · 2021-2025 0.2 · 1 over 5 class years

All 5 feeder schools, ranked →

Counted from each school's own published document, linked on that school's page. A high school that is not here does not publish a numbered list we could read — that is all absence means, and it says nothing about its graduates. Where a school publishes both, the two lists are shown separately: an acceptances list is not a list of enrollments, and the two are never added together.

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At a glance

JSON · Using this page with an AI assistant

Hunter College (CUNY) is a public four-year college in NY. It admitted 54% of applicants (31,614 applied, 2023). Test policy: Test-optional.

Middle 50% of enrolled first-years who submitted that test: SAT 1210–1470. 9% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score — this range describes students who submitted, not the whole class.

Cost: about $2,984 a year on average with aid, $13,905 a year at full price for in-state students.

Median earnings ten years after entry: $63,163 a year. Payoff, meaning ten years of that pay minus four years of cost: $619,694 ahead with aid, $576,010 ahead at full price.

Highest median earnings four years after the degree, by program: Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing ($116,361); Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science/Research and Allied Professions ($104,791); Computer Science ($102,321).

Economic mobility (Opportunity Insights): 21% of students came from families in the bottom fifth of income, and 36% of those reached the top fifth as adults.

Aid pledge published by the college for 2026-27: families earning under $125,000 pay no tuition (NY residents; state Excelsior program, tuition only).

High schools that publish a numbered matriculation list and name Hunter College (CUNY): 5, 5 enrolled students between them — ranked by graduates per class year, most often Notre Dame School of Manhattan (1.0 per class year, 1 over 1 class year, Class of 2025); Greenhill School (0.2 per class year, 1 over 4 class years, 2022 - 2025); Loyola School (0.2 per class year, 1 over 4 class years, 2023-2026). Each figure is the number that school printed divided by the class years its own list covers; the totals and years are shown. These are the schools that publish such a list, not every school that sends students; full list: https://highschoolreach.com/leaderboards/feeder-schools/cuny-hunter-college.

Machine-readable version of this page: https://highschoolreach.com/colleges/cuny-hunter-college.json

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