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

Harvey Mudd College: Cost, Graduate Salary, Acceptance Rate and Return on Investment

Harvey Mudd College is a private nonprofit college in Claremont, CA. Students pay about $35,924 a year in net price, and the median graduate earns $138,687 ten years after enrolling. By our Degree-ROI measure the degree pays back in about 1.8 years and adds $751,174 over a decade, ranking it #4 of 918 (top 1%) by value added.

Avg net price / yr
$35,924
Median salary (10 yrs)
$138,687
10-yr value added
$751,174
Acceptance rate
12.7%

What is Harvey Mudd College's acceptance rate?

Harvey Mudd College has an acceptance rate of 12.7%, which makes it highly selective. It is a private nonprofit institution in Claremont, CA enrolling about 921 students, with a 92.8% graduation rate.

How much does Harvey Mudd College cost?

Harvey Mudd College costs about $35,924 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 $168,696. Published sticker cost of attendance is $90,165 per year.

How much do Harvey Mudd College graduates earn?

Ten years after enrolling, the median Harvey Mudd College student earns $138,687 per year. That is $91,987 more than the $46,700 that the typical worker with only a high-school diploma earns.

Is Harvey Mudd College worth it? Degree ROI and payback period

Harvey Mudd College pays back its roughly $168,696 cost in about 1.8 years, then keeps returning the earnings premium. Over the first decade the degree adds about $751,174 net of cost, a 5.45x return on the money invested. That ranks it #4 of 918 (top 1%) by value added. Its top-tier value is driven mainly by strong graduate earnings and a high graduation rate.

Top 10% value

Harvey Mudd College graduation rate and student debt

92.8% of Harvey Mudd College students complete their degree, and the median graduate leaves with $25,000 in federal student debt. That debt is about 18% of one year of median graduate earnings.

Harvey Mudd College by the numbers (vs the typical college)

How Harvey Mudd College 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$35,924$20,299cheaper than 9%
Median earnings (10 yrs)$138,687$54,768100th
Graduation rate92.8%57.0%97th
Acceptance rate12.7%75.7%more selective than 96%
10-yr value added$751,174-$28,192100th
ROI multiple (per $1)5.45x0.73x98th
Payback period1.8 yrs8.8 yrsfaster than 98%
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 Harvey Mudd College worth the cost compared to other colleges?

By value added net of cost, Harvey Mudd College ranks #4 of 918 (top 1%) of the 918 four-year colleges we rank, and returns about 5.45x the money invested over a decade.

Is Harvey Mudd College expensive compared to other colleges?

Its $35,924 average net price is above the $20,299 median for the colleges in this snapshot, making it cheaper than 9% of them.

Do Harvey Mudd College graduates earn more than average?

Median earnings of $138,687 ten years out are above the $54,768 median, higher than 100% of the colleges here.

How hard is it to get into Harvey Mudd College compared to other colleges?

Its 12.7% 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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