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🎓 College profile

United States Coast Guard Academy

CT · Public · Small city · 1,789 applicants 2023

24% admit rate SAT 1210–1380

🧭 A parent's read

  • Kids finish — on time. 93% graduate in four years. Nationally, barely half do — and a fifth year elsewhere quietly adds $30–70k to the real price. On-time completion is the most underrated ROI number in this decision.
  • 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.

Get your child's odds at United States Coast Guard Academy Free Family Decision Report — Reach / Match / Likely + your real net price. United States Coast Guard Academy starts already on the list. Start →

🎯 Parent/student verdict

Strong target

Selective but achievable for strong students.

✅ Best for

  • Solid academic profiles — the admitted-student bands above are within reach for strong students
  • Students focused on Engineering (the school's signature program)
  • Families wanting a small liberal-arts experience

🎯 The reality

  • Bottom-quartile academic profile if: SAT below 1210, or ACT below 25, or unweighted GPA below ~3.50 (admitted-class quartiles; GPA floor is a calibrated heuristic where CDS not yet on file)
  • With selective universities, build a balanced college list of Reaches, Targets, and Safeties ⓘ

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

🏛️ Institutional snapshot

What kind of college is this?

Carnegie classification
Baccalaureate Colleges: Diverse Fields
Total enrollment
1,108
1,000 - 4,999
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.
24.3%
Highly selective
SAT middle 50%The middle half of enrolled students scored in this range — a quarter scored BELOW the low end and still got in, and a quarter scored above the high end. Above the top number is a genuine strength; below the bottom isn't automatic rejection.
1210–1380
EBRW + Math composite
ACT middle 50%The middle half of enrolled students scored in this range — a quarter scored BELOW the low end and still got in, and a quarter scored above the high end. Above the top number is a genuine strength; below the bottom isn't automatic rejection.
25–30
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

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).

4-year completionThe share of students who finish a bachelor's in four years. Nationally barely half do — and a fifth year quietly adds a full extra year of cost to the real price.
93%

📚 What students study here

Most popular majors at United States Coast Guard Academy

Top 5 fields of study by bachelor's degrees awarded (most recent IPEDS Completions). Use this to see what United States Coast Guard Academy actually graduates — not just what it markets.

1. Engineering
120 degrees · 48.6%
Engineering majors land high-paying technical roles. Top-earning sub-disciplines: petroleum, chemical, computer engineering.
2. Business, Management, & Marketing
45 degrees · 18.2%
Broad set of corporate roles. Finance + consulting pay top, accounting + HR pay middle, sales spread is wide.
3. Social Sciences
37 degrees · 15.0%
Economics + poli sci sub-disciplines pay much more than sociology + anthropology.
4. Physical Sciences
25 degrees · 10.1%
Chemistry, physics, geology — strong wages especially in industry roles.
5. Computer & Information Sciences
20 degrees · 8.1%
High-paying tech roles dominate. Median software roles cluster in the $90k-$130k range.

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

Alternatives to United States Coast Guard Academy

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.
University of Connecticut
CT · Public
54% admit rate (vs 24% here)
Eastern Connecticut State University
CT · Public
80% admit rate (vs 24% here)

⚖️ Or compare any college side-by-side

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