Doctoral/ProfessionalPrivate nonprofit

Fairfield University

Fairfield, Connecticut·Private not-for-profit, 4-year or above·New England·fairfield.edu
6-yr Graduation
84%
+17.0pp vs Doctoral/Professional
Total enrollment
6,864
peer median 6,610
Avg net price
$48,095
+$13k vs Doctoral/Professional
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AdmissionsOutcomesProgram outcomesAccreditationCostFederal aidLoan defaultsAcademic programsEnrollment trendsAthleticsCampus safetyFacultyPeersIR OfficeCommon Data Set

Admissions & acceptance rate

First-time freshman admissions: how selective the college is, and how many admitted students choose to enroll.

IPEDS
Applied
18,509
18,509 candidates competed
Admitted
6,162
33.3% acceptance rate
Enrolled
1,461
23.7% yield

Graduation rate & outcomes

Completion, retention, and the equity gap between Pell and non-Pell students.

IPEDS
Overall completion
84%+17.0pp vs Doctoral/Professional
4-year graduation
82%
6-year graduation (bachelor’s)
84%
Full-time retention
91%

Pell equity

17.1pp gap
Pell recipients
69%77 of 112
Non-Pell (all)
86%841 of 977
Subsidized loan, no Pell
86%217 of 253
No Federal Aid
86%624 of 724

Non-Pell students graduate at a 17.1-point higher rate than Pell recipients.

Source: IPEDS Graduation Rates (GR) — Pell/SSL cohort, 2024 cohort.

Program outcomes

Federal Program Performance Data: how each program's graduate earnings and debt measure up under Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment.

FVT/GE

Of 113 Title IV programs, 23 pass the federal Gainful Employment test and 0 fail. 90 have graduate earnings too small to publish, so they carry no pass/fail verdict.

Total programs
113
Passing
23
20.4% of portfolio
Failing (GE)
0
0.0% of portfolio
Fail rate
0.0%
-0.6pp vs 0.6% national

Pass / fail distribution

113programs
  • Passing23 · 20.4%
  • No Data90 · 79.6%
  • Failing0 · 0.0%

Severity spectrum

Critical
0
Severe
0
Recoverable
0
At Risk
0
Watch
2
Safe
21
No data
90

Tiers band programs by how far graduate earnings sit above or below the benchmark, from Critical (below −15%) through Safe (above +25%). No data means earnings were privacy-suppressed.

Earnings premium gap

Graduate earnings versus the federal benchmark, worst gaps first.

23
Rhetoric and Composition/Writing Studies
Master's Degree · English Language And Literature/Letters
+10.0%
$54,424 vs $49,483
Mental and Social Health Services and Allied Professions
Master's Degree · Health Professions And Related Clinical Sciences
+23.2%
$74,031 vs $60,112
Teacher Education and Professional Development Specific Levels and Methods
Master's Degree · Education
+29.9%
$60,277 vs $46,391
Clinical Counseling and Applied Psychology
Master's Degree · Psychology
+58.3%
$76,998 vs $48,653
English Language and Literature General
Bachelor Degree · English Language And Literature/Letters
+79.6%
$62,527 vs $34,808
Business Administration Management and Operations
Master's Degree · Business, Management, Marketing, And Related Support Services
+87.3%
$112,565 vs $60,112
Accounting and Related Services
Master's Degree · Business, Management, Marketing, And Related Support Services
+95.2%
$117,339 vs $60,112
Psychology General
Bachelor Degree · Psychology
+101.7%
$70,211 vs $34,808

Debt vs earnings

Median completer debt against median graduate earnings, highest burden first.

19
Mental and Social Health Services and Allied Professions
Master's Degree · Health Professions And Related Clinical Sciences
67%
$49,379 debt · $74,031 earn
Rhetoric and Composition/Writing Studies
Master's Degree · English Language And Literature/Letters
61%
$33,276 debt · $54,424 earn
Registered Nursing Nursing Administration Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing
Doctoral Degree · Health Professions And Related Clinical Sciences
55%
$89,257 debt · $163,093 earn
English Language and Literature General
Bachelor Degree · English Language And Literature/Letters
43%
$27,000 debt · $62,527 earn
Teacher Education and Professional Development Specific Levels and Methods
Master's Degree · Education
43%
$25,702 debt · $60,277 earn
Psychology General
Bachelor Degree · Psychology
38%
$26,949 debt · $70,211 earn
Communication and Media Studies
Bachelor Degree · Communication, Journalism, And Related Programs
34%
$26,121 debt · $78,081 earn
Political Science and Government
Bachelor Degree · Social Sciences
32%
$26,900 debt · $83,709 earn

Accreditation status & history

Who accredits the institution, current standing, and any past actions.

DAPIP
AccreditedInstitutional accreditor

New England Commission of Higher Education

Accredited since 1953Next review Jun 2028

Programmatic accreditations · 10

Action history · 7

  1. Jun 2025Loss of Accreditation or Preaccreditation: Voluntary Withdrawal
    Council on Education for Public Health · Public Health Programs (PHPB) — Baccalaureate only level programs offered outside a school of public health
  2. Jan 2024Initial Accreditation
    Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics · Dietetics (DIET) - Coordinated Program in Dietetics
  3. Feb 2021Initial Accreditation
    Accreditation Commission for Midwifery Education · Nurse Midwifery (MIDWF) - Basic certificate and graduate nurse-midwifery education programs for registered nurses
  4. Mar 2018Renewal of Accreditation
    New England Commission of Higher Education
  5. Mar 2017Renewal of Accreditation
    Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education · Nursing (CNURED) - Nursing education programs at the graduate degree levels

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

Tuition & cost

What families actually pay, broken down by family income.

College Scorecard

Net price by family income

Aid exceeds costFamily pays
$0–30k$33,302
$30–48k$35,155
$48–75k$26,953
$75–110k$44,077
$110k+$50,773

Negative values mean aid exceeds the published cost of attendance for that income band.

Avg net price (private)
$48,095
+$12,617vs Doctoral/Professional median $35,479
Federal loans
43.2%
In-state tuition
$58,350
Out-of-state
$58,350

Federal aid volume & trends

Pell grants and federal Direct Loan volume disbursed to students, and how they've trended.

Federal Student Aid

In AY 2024–25, 502 students received $3.2M in Pell grants, alongside $37.5M in federal Direct Loans.

Pell recipients
502
AY 2024–25
Pell disbursed
$3.2M
$3,209,369 total
Direct Loans
$37.5M
3,738 loan awards

Pell recipients · 5-year trend

0k
’20
0k
’21
0k
’22
0k
’23
1k
’24

Loan volume by type · AY 2024–25

Subsidized$3.9M
886 loan awards
Unsubsidized · UG$8.7M
1,821 loan awards
Unsubsidized · Grad$9.6M
560 loan awards
Parent PLUS$12.6M
340 loan awards
Grad PLUS$2.6M
131 loan awards

Loan awards count each loan type a student holds, not unique borrowers; one student may carry several (e.g. subsidized and unsubsidized), so the per-type figures are the reliable detail.

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

Student loan default rate

The share of student borrowers who default on federal loans within three years, against the national benchmark.

Cohort Default Rate

Of 880 borrowers who entered repayment, 2 (0.2%) defaulted within three years — below the 2.3% national rate.

Default rate
0.2%
-2.1pp vs 2.3% national
Borrowers in repayment
880
Defaulted
2
Measurement window
3 years
Federal CDR standard

Default rate vs national, by cohort

2016
1.9%
2017
1.3%
2018
2.2%
2019
0.2%
2020*
0.0%
This institutionNational rate

* Cohorts 2020 and later read near 0% because the federal COVID-19 payment pause (CARES Act) suspended defaults nationwide. These years reflect a national policy, not institutional performance; the 2019 cohort is the last measured under normal repayment.

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

Academic programs at Fairfield

Top program areas ranked by completions.

IPEDS
Distinct CIP programs105
UndergraduateOffered
GraduateOffered

Top program families by completions

1,964 total completions
01Business
88945.3%
02Health Professions
38519.6%
03Multi/Interdisciplinary
1246.3%
04Psychology
1125.7%
05Communication
1045.3%
06Social Sciences
884.5%
07Education
834.2%
08Engineering
753.8%
09Biological Sciences
603.1%
10Computer Sciences
442.2%

Enrollment trends & demographics

Fall headcount, 12-month unduplicated enrollment, and student body composition.

IPEDS
Fall total
6,864
12-mo unduplicated
7,510
Undergraduate
5,654
Graduate
1,856

Gender split

Men
40%3,027
Women
60%4,483

Race / ethnicity composition

White
79.3%
Hispanic
8.9%
Unknown
4.7%
Two or more
2.0%
Non-resident
1.9%
Asian
1.8%
Black
1.3%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander
0.1%
American Indian / Alaska Native
0.0%

Athletics & Title IX gender equity

How athletic participation, aid, and spending are split between men and women.

EADA
Athletes
505
245 M · 260 W
Women athletes
51.5%
Athletic aid
$9.9M
Total student aid
Budget
$30.2M
Total expenses

Men vs women · spending splits

Athletic student aid
$4.3M
$5.6M
Recruiting expense
$178K
$167K
Head-coach salaries
$121K
$110K
Men Women

Sport-by-sport · 12

Rowing
42 M · 48 W
$509K
Lacrosse
55 M · 33 W
$3.0M
Soccer
33 M · 33 W
$2.7M
Swimming and Diving (combined)
28 M · 25 W
$1.1M
Baseball
38 M · —
$1.4M
Basketball
18 M · 16 W
$6.9M

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

Campus safety & crime statistics

Reported on-campus crimes over the last three years, including violence and hate crimes.

Clery Act
Criminal offenses · per 1,000 students
0.95
6 offenses · 6,289 students

3-year trend

0.862 yrs ago2.161 yr ago0.95Latest
Offenses · 3-yr
24
Last three years
VAWA · 3-yr
19
DV, dating, stalking
Hate crimes · 3-yr
0
Res-hall fires · 3-yr
7

Criminal offenses by type

Fondling
3
Rape
2
Burglary
1

By location

6total
  • On campus6

Includes 4 in residence halls (a subset of on-campus, not added to the total).

VAWA offenses

0
Domestic violence
1
Dating violence
3
Stalking
4 total under the Violence Against Women Act.

Hate crimes by bias

No hate crimes reported.

Arrests vs disciplinary referrals

CategoryArrestsReferrals
Weapons00
Drugs013
Liquor0116

Residence-hall fires

  • Claver Hall1 fire
    Smoking materialsDamage $100-$999

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

Student-faculty ratio

Student-to-faculty ratio and instructional staff counts.

IPEDS
Student-to-faculty
12.0:1
Instructional staff (full-time equivalent)
382

Fairfield vs Peer comparison

The peer institutions Fairfield selected for federal comparison reporting.

IPEDS
GraduationRetentionSelectivityEnrollmentAffordabilityYield
This institutionPeer median

A larger shape on any axis means this institution outperforms its peers on that dimension. For acceptance rate and net price, lower raw values are inverted so "more selective" and "more affordable" appear larger.

Carnegie
SubjectFairfield University
84%—6,864$48,095Doctoral/Professional
University of Hartford
57%95.7%6,015$30,282Doctoral/Professional
University of Bridgeport
41%83.0%3,838$27,807Doctoral/Professional
Quinnipiac University
76%72.2%9,424$40,675Doctoral/Professional
Sacred Heart University
73%65.4%11,022$46,174Doctoral/Professional
Suffolk University
61%82.3%6,356$29,618Doctoral/Professional
Peer group median67%82.3%6,610$35,479

Institutions like Fairfield

Explore the federal data for institutions in Fairfield's comparison group.

IPEDS

Fairfield Institutional Research office

The IR team responsible for the institution's federal reporting.

Office
Office of Institutional Research
Reports to Office of the Provost
Email
ir [at] fairfield.edu
Phone
203-254-4000
Address
Bellarmine Hall 106, 1073 North Benson Road, Fairfield, CT 06824

Ensuring the integrity and reliability of information for effective decision-making and institutional planning that will enhance the student experience and growth of the institution.

Visit IR office page

Common Data Set

Fairfield's own annual Common Data Set: the most detailed self-reported reference for selectivity, cost, outcomes, and the student body.

Acceptance rate
33.4%
Selective
Yield
23.4%
of admitted students enroll
Total enrollment
6,864
5,391 UG · 1,473 grad
6-yr graduation rate
84%
First-year retention
91%
Est. net price (aided)
$49,634
after avg need-based grant
01

Selectivity & Admissions

Admissions funnel

C1
Applied
18,509
Admitted
6,162
Enrolled
1,461

18,509 applied → 6,162 admitted (33.4%) → 1,461 enrolled.

Selectivity

C1
Acceptance rate
33.4%

Selective — 33.4% acceptance rate.

Admit rate by gender

C1
male34.4%
female32.6%

Admit rate varies by gender.

SAT range (middle 50%)

C9
25th
1270
Median
1310
75th
1370

Middle 50% SAT 1270–1370 (median 1310).

ACT range (middle 50%)

C9
25th
29
Median
30
75th
32

Middle 50% ACT 29–32 (median 30).

High-school class rank

C10
top tenth0.29%
top quarter0.61%
top half0.91%
bottom half0.09%
bottom quarter0.02%

Share of enrolled first-years by HS class-rank band.

Waitlist outcome

C2
Offered
8,898
Accepted spot
2,477
Admitted
22

8,898 offered a waitlist spot, 2,477 accepted it, 22 admitted (0.9% of those who stayed on).

What matters in admission

C7
Very Important4
Rigor of secondary school recordClass rankAcademic GPAStandardized test scores
Considered2
Application EssayRecommendation(s)
Not Considered12
InterviewExtracurricular activitiesTalent/abilityCharacter/personal qualitiesFirst generationAlumni/ae relationGeographical residenceState residencyReligious affiliation/commitmentVolunteer workWork experienceLevel of applicant’s interest

Relative importance of each admission factor.

02

Affordability & Value

Cost of attendance

G
Total$80,418
Tuition
$57,45071%
Fees
$9001%
Room & board
$19,83825%
Books
$1,1751%
Other
$1,0551%

Total sticker cost of attendance is $80,418 (2024-2025).

Sticker vs. net price

G+H
Sticker COA
$80,418
Net (aided)
$49,634
Avg need grant
$30,784

Sticker $80,418 → about $49,634 net for aided students after the average need-based grant ($30,784); 78% of demonstrated need is met.

Where grant aid comes from

H1
Institutional91.6%
Federal6.2%
External1.6%
State0.6%

92% of need-based grant dollars come from the institution itself.

Graduate debt

H4/H5
Grads with debt
68%
Avg debt
$41,207

68% of graduates borrowed; those who did owed $41,207 on average.

03

Outcomes & Equity

Graduation & retention

B
6-yr grad rate
84%
Retention
91%

6-year graduation rate 84%; first-year retention 91%.

04

Academic Experience

Degrees by discipline

J
Business/marketing47.2%
Health professions and related programs15.1%
Communication/journalism7.3%
Social sciences6%
Interdisciplinary studies5.6%
Psychology4.7%
Biological/life sciences3.4%
Computer and information sciences2.1%

STEM-dominant: ~8% of bachelor's degrees are in computing, engineering, math & sciences.

05

Student Body & Diversity

Undergraduate race/ethnicity

B2
White, non-Hispanic79.1%
Hispanic/Latino8.9%
Race and/or ethnicity unknown4.9%
Two or more races, non-Hispanic2.0%
Nonresidents1.9%
Asian, non-Hispanic1.7%
Black or African American, non-Hispanic1.3%
Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, non-Hispanic0.1%
American Indian or Alaska Native, non-Hispanic0.0%

Undergraduate enrollment by race/ethnicity.

International students

B2
International UG
104
Share
2%

2% of undergraduates are international (nonresident).

Undergrad vs graduate

B1
Undergraduate
5,39179%
Graduate
1,47321%

5,391 undergraduates and 1,473 graduate students.

06

Transfer Path

Transfer admissions

D1
Applied
518
Admitted
50
Enrolled
41

518 transfer applicants → 50 admitted (9.7%) → 41 enrolled — more selective than first-year admission.

Source publications

Frequently asked questions about Fairfield University

Quick answers to the questions most often asked about Fairfield.

What is the graduation rate at Fairfield University?

Fairfield University reports a 6-year graduation rate of 84% per the latest IPEDS.

How many students attend Fairfield University?

Fairfield University reports a total enrollment of 6,864 students per the latest IPEDS.

What is the average net price at Fairfield University?

The average net price at Fairfield University is $48,095 per the latest College Scorecard. Net price is the published cost of attendance minus grant aid.

What is the yield rate at Fairfield University?

Fairfield University's yield rate is 23.7%, the share of admitted students who enrolled, per the latest IPEDS.

Where is Fairfield University located?

Fairfield University is located in Fairfield, Connecticut 06824-5195.

Who runs Institutional Research at Fairfield University?

Fairfield University's IR work is done by the Office of Institutional Research, which reports to Office of the Provost.

About the data on this page

Every figure comes from an official federal or public source. Here is each one and the release it is currently on.

IPEDS2025 provisional data (Fall 2025–26 release, July 28, 2026)
Enrollment, completions, graduation rates, tuition, financial aid, staffing, and finance for every U.S. institution in federal student aid programs.
National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education
College ScorecardJune 10, 2026 release (merged 2025–26 files)
Institution and field-of-study costs, graduate earnings, debt, completion, and admissions outcomes compiled from federal aid records, tax data, and IPEDS.
U.S. Department of Education
FVT/GE program performanceProvisional preview, May 18, 2026 release
Program-level debt-to-earnings and earnings-premium measures behind the FVT/GE and STATS accountability frameworks.
U.S. Department of Education
DAPIP accreditationContinuously refreshed
Accreditation status for institutions and programs, reported by recognized accrediting agencies.
U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education
Federal Pell Grant volumeAY 2025–26 (through Q3), through March 31, 2026
Pell Grant recipient counts, award amounts, and disbursements by institution and award year.
U.S. Department of Education, Federal Student Aid
Federal student loan volumeAY 2025–26 (through Q3), through March 31, 2026
Federal Direct Loan recipient counts and disbursement volume by institution and award year.
U.S. Department of Education, Federal Student Aid
Cohort Default RatesFY 2022 official rates
Institution-level federal student loan default rates, measuring borrowers who default within three years of entering repayment.
U.S. Department of Education, Federal Student Aid
Equity in Athletics (EADA)Academic year 2024–25
Athletics participation, coaching, revenues, and expenses by sport and gender for Title IV institutions.
U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education
Campus Safety & SecurityData through reporting year 2024
Criminal offenses, arrests, disciplinary actions, VAWA offenses, and fire statistics reported by campus under the Clery Act.
U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education
Last reviewed July 2026All data sources & release dates →

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