Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico-Arecibo

Arecibo, PR · Private nonprofit · 273 undergrads (small, suburb) · website ↗

Roman Catholic
100% Hispanic undergrads
Test-optional
No application fee

What you'll actually pay

Average net price per year — tuition, fees, room & board minus grant and scholarship aid — for in-state students by household income.

Household income	Avg net price / year
Under $30,000	$10,939
$30,000 – $48,000	$10,883
$48,000 – $75,000	$15,333
$75,000 – $110,000	—
Over $110,000	—
All incomes (average)	$11,117

Sticker tuition and fees: $6,550 in-state — before aid, from the same earlier College Scorecard release as the net prices above.

These are averages. For an estimate for your family, use Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico-Arecibo's own net price calculator — every college that takes federal student aid must publish one.

Net price calculator ↗

Other costs of attendance, 2025–26

The college's own estimate for a full-time undergraduate for the year, before aid, from the October 2026 College Scorecard. It is a newer year than the tuition and net prices above, so don't add the two together.

Housing and meals, off campus (not with family)	$8,502
Books and supplies	$3,714
Other expenses, off campus	$6,592

Grants and loans for first-year students, 2022–23

What the college reported for its full-time, first-time students (37 of them) in 2022–23; 95% got some kind of aid, loans included. Each average is over the students who received that kind of aid, not over everyone. It is an older year than the 2025–26 costs above.

Type of aid	Students awarded	Average amount
Any grant or scholarshipFederal, state, local and the college's own	95%	$6,281
Federal Pell GrantNeed-based, from the federal government	89%	$5,885
The college's own grants and scholarshipsNeed- or merit-based, funded by the college	32%	$710
Federal student loansBorrowed by the student; repaid with interest. No Parent PLUS or private loans	11%	$4,500

IPEDS, U.S. Department of Education, Student Financial Aid 2022–23 (SFA2223, provisional release); full-time, first-time degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates; public domain.

Admissions & outcomes

Acceptance rate: 94%
Average SAT: —
Median ACT: —
Students with Pell grants: 69%
Graduation rate (6yr): 54%
Freshman retention: 87%
Median earnings @ 10yr: $24,908
Median debt at graduation: $15,500
International undergrads: 0 (0%)

For comparison, the median across all 1,596 four-year colleges on this site: graduation rate 56%, earnings ten years after entering $54,869, debt at graduation $23,250.

Admission policy, test scores and teaching

SAT/ACT policy: Test-optional
Application fee: None
Students per faculty member: 10 to 1
Faculty who are full-time: 50%
Open admission: No

What the college considers in admission decisions, fall 2023

How the college said it used each item when deciding on first-time, degree- or certificate-seeking applicants for fall 2023. For SAT and ACT scores, see the fall 2024 policy above.

High school GPA	Required
High school class rank	Not considered
High school record	Required
Completion of a college-preparatory program	Not considered
Recommendations	Not considered
Formal demonstration of competencies (e.g. portfolio)	Not considered
English proficiency test (for applicable students)	Not considered
Other test (Wonderlic, WISC-III, etc.)	Considered if submitted
Work experience	Not considered
Personal statement or essay	Not considered
Legacy status	Not considered

First-time applicants: 130
Admitted: 111
Enrolled: 25

Counts of first-time, degree- or certificate-seeking students, including early decision and early action. The acceptance rate higher up this page comes from a different College Scorecard release, so it may not match these counts.

IPEDS, U.S. Department of Education, Admissions 2023–24 (ADM2023, provisional release), fall 2023; open admission from IPEDS Institutional Characteristics 2023–24 (revised); public domain.

Most popular fields of study

Share of bachelor's degrees awarded.

Biology & Life Sciences26%

Health & Nursing23%

Psychology14%

Social Sciences13%

Business8%

Education5%

Earnings and debt by field of study

Median annual earnings of graduates who received federal student aid and were working, not studying: one year after completing (graduates of 2020–21 and 2021–22) and four years after (2017–18 and 2018–19), measured in 2022 and 2023 and shown in 2024 dollars. Median debt is federal Direct and Grad PLUS loans borrowed at this college by 2022–23 and 2023–24 graduates; it leaves out Parent PLUS and private loans. “National” is the median for the same field and credential across all US colleges.

Bachelor's degrees (8)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Biology, General	27	$13,482	$27,205national $57,214	$13,000
Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities	4	$28,654	$28,523national $53,072	$18,897
Psychology, General	4	$22,648	$24,118national $50,706	$11,000
Criminology	4	$17,595	$22,958national $55,556	$16,500
Business Administration, Management and Operations	3	—	$24,412national $68,257	$10,213
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas	2	—	$33,066national $51,389	—
Accounting and Related Services	1	$32,244	$31,158national $76,194	$8,750
Special Education and Teaching	0	—	$34,645national $50,499	—

Master's degrees (1)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Mental and Social Health Services and Allied Professions	12	$25,726	$34,941national $59,571	$45,177

Doctoral degrees (1)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Clinical, Counseling and Applied Psychology	19	$32,098	$33,204national $99,878	$118,800

A dash means the Department of Education suppressed the figure because too few graduates were measured — not zero. 21 more programmes at this college have every figure suppressed and are not listed. These figures are calculated for all 3 campuses that share this college's federal student-aid ID, so a branch campus shows its institution's figures.

Contact and accreditation

Address: Carretera 662 KM 2.3, Arecibo, PR 00614-4045
Phone: (787) 881-1212 ext. 6000
Institutional accreditor: Middle States Commission on Higher Education

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Sources: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (most recent cohorts) and IPEDS Fall Enrolment for international student counts. College Scorecard, October 2026 release: net price calculator link, mission flags and religious affiliation (2025–26), enrolment shares, test policy, SAT/ACT ranges and student-to-faculty ratio (fall 2024), cost-of-attendance components (2025–26), and earnings and debt by field of study. IPEDS Institutional Characteristics 2023–24 for the application fee and the IPEDS 2024 directory for the phone number. IPEDS Admissions 2023–24 (ADM2023, provisional release) for admission requirements and first-time applicants, admits and enrolments (fall 2023). IPEDS Student Financial Aid 2022–23 (SFA2223, provisional release) for grants and loans to full-time, first-time students. All are U.S. Department of Education data in the public domain. Verify current costs and requirements with the school.

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