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

University of Notre Dame: Cost, Graduate Salary, Acceptance Rate and Return on Investment

University of Notre Dame is a private nonprofit college in Notre Dame, IN. Students pay about $26,780 a year in net price, and the median graduate earns $99,980 ten years after enrolling. By our Degree-ROI measure the degree pays back in about 2.4 years and adds $406,680 over a decade, ranking it #17 of 918 (top 3%) by value added.

Avg net price / yr
$26,780
Median salary (10 yrs)
$99,980
10-yr value added
$406,680
Acceptance rate
11.3%

What is University of Notre Dame's acceptance rate?

University of Notre Dame has an acceptance rate of 11.3%, which makes it highly selective. It is a private nonprofit institution in Notre Dame, IN enrolling about 8,818 students, with a 96.0% graduation rate.

How much does University of Notre Dame cost?

University of Notre Dame costs about $26,780 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 $126,120. Published sticker cost of attendance is $83,271 per year.

How much do University of Notre Dame graduates earn?

Ten years after enrolling, the median University of Notre Dame student earns $99,980 per year. That is $53,280 more than the $46,700 that the typical worker with only a high-school diploma earns.

Is University of Notre Dame worth it? Degree ROI and payback period

University of Notre Dame pays back its roughly $126,120 cost in about 2.4 years, then keeps returning the earnings premium. Over the first decade the degree adds about $406,680 net of cost, a 4.22x return on the money invested. That ranks it #17 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

University of Notre Dame graduation rate and student debt

96.0% of University of Notre Dame students complete their degree, and the median graduate leaves with $19,000 in federal student debt. That debt is about 19% of one year of median graduate earnings.

University of Notre Dame by the numbers (vs the typical college)

How University of Notre Dame 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$26,780$20,299cheaper than 26%
Median earnings (10 yrs)$99,980$54,76898th
Graduation rate96.0%57.0%99th
Acceptance rate11.3%75.7%more selective than 97%
10-yr value added$406,680-$28,19298th
ROI multiple (per $1)4.22x0.73x95th
Payback period2.4 yrs8.8 yrsfaster than 94%
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 University of Notre Dame worth the cost compared to other colleges?

By value added net of cost, University of Notre Dame ranks #17 of 918 (top 3%) of the 918 four-year colleges we rank, and returns about 4.22x the money invested over a decade.

Is University of Notre Dame expensive compared to other colleges?

Its $26,780 average net price is above the $20,299 median for the colleges in this snapshot, making it cheaper than 26% of them.

Do University of Notre Dame graduates earn more than average?

Median earnings of $99,980 ten years out are above the $54,768 median, higher than 98% of the colleges here.

How hard is it to get into University of Notre Dame compared to other colleges?

Its 11.3% acceptance rate is below the 75.7% median, making it more selective than 97% 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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