Chatham University

Overview

Rankings

• #18 Best Communications Colleges in Pennsylvania
• #20 Best Biology Colleges in Pennsylvania
• #28 Best Online Colleges in Pennsylvania
• #32 Best Education Colleges in Pennsylvania
• #32 Best MBA Programs in Pennsylvania
• #39 Best Bachelor's Programs in Pennsylvania
• #39 Best Master's Programs in Pennsylvania
• #44 Best Colleges in Pennsylvania

Academics & Admissions

Is It Hard to Get Into Chatham University? Acceptance Rate & Requirements

Based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Chatham University offers a realistic path to admission, with roughly 62% of applicants receiving an offer. Admitted students typically arrive with an average SAT score near 1,198. The graduation rate is roughly 65%.

Acceptance Rate

62%

Retention Rate

78%

SAT Average

1198

SAT Range

1070–1295

ACT Range

21–30

Full-Time Faculty

100%

Faculty Salary (mo)

$8,160

Student–Faculty Ratio

10:1

Diversity Index

0.41

First-Gen Students

30%

Applicants

3,514

Admitted

2,331

Inside the Admissions Office

School-reported Common Data Set · 2024-25

The acceptance rate tells you how hard Chatham University is to get into. Its Common Data Set tells you what happens once you are admitted: how many students say yes, how many arrived without test scores, and whether applying early tilts the odds. 13% of admitted students go on to enroll here, making it a school most admitted students ultimately pass on.

Yield Rate

13%

of admits enroll

Submitted SAT

22%

of enrolled freshmen

Submitted ACT

7%

of enrolled freshmen

Cost & Financial Aid

How Much Does It Cost to Attend Chatham University? Tuition, Net Price & Aid

Published tuition at Chatham University is $44,626, but few families pay that. The number to watch is net price, what students actually pay each year after federal grants and institutional scholarships. Here it averages about $29,954. Students from families earning under $30,000 typically pay closer to $22,675 after need-based grants. The median graduate leaves with about $23,250 in federal student loans.

In-State Tuition

$44,626

Out-of-State

$44,626

Avg Net Price

$29,954

Median Debt

$23,250

Pell Grant Rate

22%

Federal Loan Rate

53%

Students Like You

Tell us a little about yourself to see what students like you have typically experienced at Chatham University — the net price for your income, your admission odds, and the outcomes that follow. These are patterns from federal data, not predictions.

Graduate Outcomes

Is Chatham University Worth It? Graduate Earnings & ROI

Ten years out, alumni of Chatham University earn a median of $52,410, roughly in line with the national average for college graduates.

6 Years After Entry

$48,709

8 Years

$49,088

10 Years

$52,410

Debt-to-Earnings

0.44x

Earning > $25K

61%

Social Mobility

Data: Raj Chetty's Mobility Report Card · 30M+ anonymized tax records

Does Chatham University Drive Upward Mobility? Economic Mobility & Low-Income Outcomes

Chatham University is a genuine engine of upward mobility. Its mobility rate, the share of students who start in the bottom income quintile and climb to the top, is 1.63%, well above the typical college. Access is a real strength here. Roughly 10% of students come from families in the bottom income quintile, a high share that gives low-income students a real foothold. Among bottom-quintile students who attend, roughly 16.2% go on to reach the top of the income ladder. The median family income of students sits near $71,200, a snapshot of the campus's socioeconomic mix.

Mobility Rate

1.63%

Bottom 20% → Top 20%

Success Rate

16.2%

If bottom 20% get in

From Bottom 20%

10.0%

Share of students

Parent Median Income

$96,736

today's $ (2015 cohort data)

Social Capital

Data: Opportunity Insights Social Capital Atlas

How Connected Is Chatham University? Social Capital & Cross-Class Networks

Social capital, the web of cross-class friendships that researchers link to long-run upward mobility, runs high at Chatham University. Its economic connectedness score is 1.65, where about 1.0 is the national norm. Its friending bias is low (-0.02), a sign that students from different economic backgrounds actually mix rather than self-segregate. Around 14% of students take part in civic and volunteering activity.

Economic Connectedness

1.65

Cross-class friendships

Friending Bias

-0.02

Lower = more inclusive

Volunteering Rate

13.8%

Support Ratio

1.00

Community support

Institutional Finances

Data: NCES IPEDS

Federal Grants

$537,108

Investment Income

$-9,880,648

Top Programs

The fields Chatham University awards the most degrees in, by share of completions. Where federal field-of-study data exists, we show what graduates in that major earned early in their careers. Each links to its degree guide — or see what someone with your income, scores, and major would pay and earn here in the Students Like You simulator.

• Biology & Biomedical 16% $37,599 early-career
• Business & Marketing 11% $69,178 early-career
• Health Professions 9% $79,823 early-career
• Visual & Performing Arts 9%
• Psychology 8% $36,562 early-career
• Social Sciences 5%
• Communications 4%
• English & Literature 4% $38,698 early-career

Early-career median earnings by major (typically 1–2 years after completion, bachelor's level where available), in today's dollars (CPI-adjusted). Source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard field of study. Distinct from the school-wide 10-year median; suppressed for small programs.