College dataData from U.S. Dept of EducationUpdated May 2026 · 4 min read
Data: 2026-05 Next refresh: Nov 2026

Georgetown University: Cost, Graduate Salary, Acceptance Rate and Return on Investment

Georgetown University is a private nonprofit college in Washington, DC. Students pay about $40,815 a year in net price, and the median graduate earns $103,494 ten years after enrolling. By our Degree-ROI measure the degree pays back in about 3.1 years and adds $389,180 over a decade, ranking it #20 of 918 (top 3%) by value added.

Avg net price / yr
$40,815
Median salary (10 yrs)
$103,494
10-yr value added
$389,180
Acceptance rate
12.9%

What is Georgetown University's acceptance rate?

Georgetown University has an acceptance rate of 12.9%, which makes it highly selective. It is a private nonprofit institution in Washington, DC enrolling about 7,569 students, with a 94.5% graduation rate.

How much does Georgetown University cost?

Georgetown University costs about $40,815 per year in average net price, what a typical student actually pays after grants and scholarships. Over four years, including typical borrowing, that totals roughly $178,760. Published sticker cost of attendance is $88,741 per year.

How much do Georgetown University graduates earn?

Ten years after enrolling, the median Georgetown University student earns $103,494 per year. That is $56,794 more than the $46,700 that the typical worker with only a high-school diploma earns.

Is Georgetown University worth it? Degree ROI and payback period

Georgetown University pays back its roughly $178,760 cost in about 3.1 years, then keeps returning the earnings premium. Over the first decade the degree adds about $389,180 net of cost, a 3.18x return on the money invested. That ranks it #20 of 918 (top 3%) by value added. Its top-tier value is driven mainly by strong graduate earnings and a high graduation rate.

Top 10% value

Georgetown University graduation rate and student debt

94.5% of Georgetown University students complete their degree, and the median graduate leaves with $15,500 in federal student debt. That debt is about 15% of one year of median graduate earnings.

Georgetown University by the numbers (vs the typical college)

How Georgetown University compares to the median four-year college in our snapshot. Percentile is its rank among the 918 colleges that report both earnings and cost (higher is better).

MetricThis schoolMedian collegePercentile
Avg net price / yr$40,815$20,299cheaper than 5%
Median earnings (10 yrs)$103,494$54,76898th
Graduation rate94.5%57.0%99th
Acceptance rate12.9%75.7%more selective than 96%
10-yr value added$389,180-$28,19298th
ROI multiple (per $1)3.18x0.73x92th
Payback period3.1 yrs8.8 yrsfaster than 90%
How we compute Degree value-add & ROI. Investment basis = average net price × 4 years + median debt (net price preferred; published sticker cost used as a fallback). Earnings premium = median earnings 10 years after entry minus the $46,700 typical earnings of a worker with only a high-school diploma (BLS Current Population Survey, median annual earnings for workers with a high-school diploma and no college (~$899/week, 2023)). Degree value-add = premium × 10 years minus total cost, the net return of the degree itself over a high-school career (it can be negative). ROI multiple = 10-year premium ÷ cost. Payback = cost ÷ annual premium. Ranked by value-add among the 918 four-year colleges in this snapshot that report both earnings and cost; 226 of them do not pay back at ten years. Missing values are excluded, never estimated.
Open data: these figures come from the public College Scorecard (public domain). Our computed Degree value-add, ROI multiple, and payback are free to cite/reuse under CC-BY 4.0.

Frequently asked

Is Georgetown University worth the cost compared to other colleges?

By value added net of cost, Georgetown University ranks #20 of 918 (top 3%) of the 918 four-year colleges we rank, and returns about 3.18x the money invested over a decade.

Is Georgetown University expensive compared to other colleges?

Its $40,815 average net price is above the $20,299 median for the colleges in this snapshot, making it cheaper than 5% of them.

Do Georgetown University graduates earn more than average?

Median earnings of $103,494 ten years out are above the $54,768 median, higher than 98% of the colleges here.

How hard is it to get into Georgetown University compared to other colleges?

Its 12.9% acceptance rate is below the 75.7% median, making it more selective than 96% of the colleges in the snapshot.

Federal data behind this page

What a programme costs, what its graduates earn, and what aid is available are published by federal statistical agencies rather than by any provider's marketing page, and the sources below are the primary ones. They are linked so a reader can check a figure here directly.

This page compares programmes on published data. Outcomes vary by student, and a reader's own aid package and circumstances decide what a programme actually costs them.

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