The Catholic University of America

Washington, DC · Private nonprofit · 3,154 undergrads (small, city) · website ↗

Roman Catholic
Test scores not considered
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	$17,358
$30,000 – $48,000	$17,895
$48,000 – $75,000	$24,723
$75,000 – $110,000	$28,295
Over $110,000	$37,651
All incomes (average)	$29,561

Sticker tuition and fees: $58,378 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 The Catholic University of America'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, on campus	$19,030
Housing and meals, off campus (not with family)	$19,030
Books and supplies	$1,248
Other expenses, on campus	$3,592
Other expenses, off campus	$3,592

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

What the college reported for its full-time, first-time students (763 of them) in 2022–23; 99% 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	99%	$38,232
Federal Pell GrantNeed-based, from the federal government	21%	$5,404
The college's own grants and scholarshipsNeed- or merit-based, funded by the college	99%	$36,624
Federal student loansBorrowed by the student; repaid with interest. No Parent PLUS or private loans	58%	$5,175

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: 83%
Average SAT: —
Median ACT: —
Students with Pell grants: 20%
Graduation rate (6yr): 80%
Freshman retention: 87%
Median earnings @ 10yr: $73,250
Median debt at graduation: $26,000
International undergrads: 111 (3.5%)

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: Not considered
Application fee: None
Students per faculty member: 11 to 1
Faculty who are full-time: 53%
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	Considered if submitted
High school record	Required
Completion of a college-preparatory program	Required
Recommendations	Required
Formal demonstration of competencies (e.g. portfolio)	Considered if submitted
English proficiency test (for applicable students)	Required
Other test (Wonderlic, WISC-III, etc.)	Not considered
Work experience	Considered if submitted
Personal statement or essay	Required
Legacy status	Not considered

First-time applicants: 5,874
Admitted: 4,925
Enrolled: 861

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.

Business29%

Health & Nursing13%

Social Sciences11%

Engineering8%

Philosophy & Religion6%

Architecture6%

Psychology5%

Visual & Performing Arts4%

Education4%

History3%

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 (21)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Business Administration, Management and Operations	126	$70,441	$87,907national $68,257	$25,000
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing	79	$87,466	$96,949national $88,910	$26,755
Psychology, General	64	$49,511	$52,846national $50,706	$25,804
Architecture	42	—	$69,838national $66,914	—
Political Science and Government	30	$49,259	$73,917national $63,293	$23,250
Music	27	$27,163	$46,123national $42,892	$27,000
History	22	—	$52,980national $50,680	$24,949
Philosophy	20	—	$49,378national $54,455	$23,000
Communication and Media Studies	15	$59,810	$73,073national $56,359	$26,000
Mechanical Engineering	15	$74,262	$90,355national $92,135	$27,000
Religion/Religious Studies	15	—	$52,638national $41,390	—
Biology, General	14	$44,532	—national $57,214	—
Biomedical/Medical Engineering	12	—	$81,519national $93,451	—
Civil Engineering	12	$76,799	$93,821national $86,517	—
Accounting and Related Services	10	$73,095	$114,909national $76,194	—
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods	9	$44,154	—national $47,382	—
Economics	6	$67,423	$91,962national $82,686	—
Social Work	5	—	$65,185national $51,790	—
Architectural Sciences and Technology	—	$59,262	—national $70,074	$25,000
Finance and Financial Management Services	0	$66,279	$98,856national $83,343	—
Marketing	0	$70,046	$85,029national $69,303	—

Master's degrees (5)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Theology and Religious Vocations, Other	41	$60,116	$51,318national $54,640	—
Theological and Ministerial Studies	40	—	$68,008national $61,300	—
Business Administration, Management and Operations	17	$75,601	—national $103,485	—
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing	12	$106,867	$114,102national $120,193	—
Business/Commerce, General	0	$69,245	$103,834national $125,988	$20,500

First professional degrees (5)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Law	128	$83,745	$112,809national $107,773	$131,353
Architectural Sciences and Technology	—	$71,500	—national $72,699	$41,000
Library Science and Administration	—	$58,621	$76,685national $62,261	$28,837
Social Work	—	$62,805	$68,031national $64,950	$57,254
Business Administration, Management and Operations	—	—	$111,378national $214,836	—

Doctoral degrees (1)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Theology and Religious Vocations, Other	15	$73,421	$82,608national $81,301	—

A dash means the Department of Education suppressed the figure because too few graduates were measured — not zero. 148 more programmes at this college have every figure suppressed and are not listed.

Contact and accreditation

Address: 620 Michigan Avenue, NE, Washington, DC 20064
Phone: (202) 319-5000
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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