A private R1 research university in New Orleans, LA, admitting 13.98% of applicants with a nationally ranked public health school and a defining urban location.
New Orleans, Louisiana
Tulane University is a private R1 research university in New Orleans, Louisiana, founded in 1834. It enrolls 7,767 undergraduates and 5,118 graduate students across the School of Liberal Arts, the School of Science and Engineering, the Freeman School of Business, the Newcomb-Tulane College, the School of Architecture, the School of Social Work, and the School of Professional Advancement. Social sciences, business, biological sciences, and psychology account for the largest shares of bachelor's degrees.
Tulane holds a Doctoral University: Very High Research Activity (R1) Carnegie classification and is accredited through the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC). Tulane is test-optional; submitting SAT or ACT scores is not required. Tulane's location in New Orleans shapes the university's culture, curriculum, and service learning mission in fundamental ways; the city's history, culture, and ongoing recovery from Hurricane Katrina (2005) are woven into the Tulane experience.
Official website: tulane.edu
UCD scores every college on four pillars: Outcomes, Value, Affordability, and Selectivity. Within peer group A (four-year selective institutions), Tulane scores 64.70 overall, rated Fair. Selectivity scores 94.85, reflecting a 13.98% admit rate. Outcomes (93.09) reflects an 86.14% six-year graduation rate. Value scores 6.93 and Affordability scores 3.40, the weakest pillars, driven by an average net price of $39,949 relative to ten-year earnings of $63,268. All scores use verified federal data only.
Tulane is among the more selective universities in the country, admitting 13.98% of applicants. Tulane is test-optional; submitting SAT or ACT scores is not required. Students who submit scores typically average 1,448 on the SAT, with the middle 50% ACT range between 31 and 34.
Tulane uses the Common App with required supplemental essays; the supplemental specifically asks about interest in New Orleans and Tulane's public service mission. The Early Decision deadline is November 1 (binding); the Regular Decision deadline is January 15. Applicants apply to a specific school within Tulane; Freeman School of Business is the most competitive application track.
Acceptance rate over the last five admission cycles. The trend tells you whether Tulane University of Louisiana is getting harder, easier, or staying about the same.
Tulane charges $68,678 in tuition plus $18,868 in room and board, bringing the estimated total cost of attendance to approximately $87,000 before aid. The average net price after all grants and scholarships is $39,949. For families earning under $30,000, the average net price is $16,126. For families earning between $30,001 and $48,000, the net price averages $18,041. For families earning between $75,001 and $110,000, the net price averages $28,207.
For families earning above $110,000, it averages $56,667. Tulane's net price for families earning under $48,000 ($16,126 to $18,041) is notably high relative to earnings ($63,268 at ten years), and higher than the net price at many schools with stronger financial outcomes. Tulane does not have a no-loan aid policy; the federal loan rate of 20.90% and median debt of $20,500 reflect loan-inclusive aid packages.
Published cost of attendance, the sticker price before grants and scholarships. Most students underestimate room & board and other expenses.
Aid is need-based, so net price varies by family income. Here's what each bracket typically pays after grants and scholarships.
Cumulative federal-loan debt across the full borrowing distribution. The 10th and 90th percentiles bracket the typical range; the median sits in the middle.
Median federal-loan debt at graduation broken down by demographic. Each slice's size is proportional to the dollar amount that group typically borrows.
Tulane completes the large majority of the students it enrolls. The six-year graduation rate is 86.14% for full-time, first-time bachelor's-seeking students. First-year retention stands at 93.47%. The federal loan rate of 20.90% and median debt of $20,500 are moderate, but the combination of high net price and moderate earnings produces a low Value score.
Tulane graduates earn below the national median for selective private research universities at the six-year and ten-year benchmarks. Median earnings are $50,220 six years after first enrolling and $63,268 at ten years. At the ten-year mark, 78.74% of former students earn more than a typical high school graduate, the lowest rate in this batch of selective universities. The earnings reflect Tulane's heavy concentration in social sciences, pre-law, pre-medicine, and public health, fields with moderate early earnings and strong long-term trajectories for those who complete graduate or professional degrees.
Students who proceed through Tulane's pre-medicine or law pipelines into professional degrees will see significantly higher earnings beyond the ten-year benchmark; the measured figures capture a window that includes professional school attendance. Freeman School of Business and science and engineering graduates typically earn above the institutional median; social sciences, international relations, and humanities graduates reflect career pathways in non-profit, government, and public health sectors.
Median annual earnings 6, 8, and 10 years after students first enrolled.
Mean annual earnings 10 years after entry, segmented by demographic. Reveals gaps the headline median can't show.
Median earnings for female grads ten years after first enrolling here.
Median earnings for male grads ten years after first enrolling here.
Earnings of grads from the bottom-third of family incomes at entry.
Earnings of grads from the middle-third of family incomes at entry.
Earnings of grads from the top-third of family incomes at entry.
Share of completer-cohort borrowers paying down at least $1 of principal at the 1-, 3-, 5-, and 7-year mark. Climbing rates show graduates settling into careers and managing debt; flat or declining rates are a warning.
Tulane enrolls 7,767 undergraduates in Uptown New Orleans, a historic residential neighborhood along St. Charles Avenue, adjacent to Audubon Park. White students account for 64.31% of undergraduates; Hispanic 11.25%, Black 7.26%, and Asian 5.59%. Pell grant participation is 9.76%, among the lowest in this peer group, reflecting Tulane's historically less economically diverse student body. Eighteen percent of undergraduates are first-generation college students.
New Orleans provides one of the most culturally distinctive college environments in the country: Mardi Gras, Jazz Fest, the French Quarter, the nation's most celebrated food culture, and live music on Frenchmen Street are all within reach of campus. New Orleans also has a significant public health context that shapes Tulane's academic mission: the city faces ongoing challenges with poverty, hurricane vulnerability, and healthcare access that inform Tulane's public health and social work programs.
Undergraduate student body composition reported to the US Department of Education.
Where students live, learn, and connect at Tulane University of Louisiana. The campus setting, housing profile, and signals that shape day-to-day life here.
Tulane University of Louisiana offers an extensive catalog of programs: 163 distinct programs across 25 majors. Below are its strongest majors, each with flagship programs and typical earnings. Open a major to explore it in depth, or browse the full program catalog.
Tulane operates at a student-to-faculty ratio consistent with smaller private research universities. 68.67% of instruction is delivered by full-time faculty, below the peer group average. Instructional spending per full-time equivalent student is $37,362 per year, reflecting the resource intensity of Tulane's medical and public health programs. The endowment stands at $2.65 billion.
The Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine is one of the oldest and most respected public health schools in the country, with particular strength in epidemiology, tropical medicine, and global health. Tulane School of Medicine and the University Medical Center New Orleans provide clinical training and research infrastructure. The Freeman School of Business holds AACSB accreditation.
1,565 instructional faculty across 5 ranks. The rank mix shows how many senior faculty are teaching versus contingent or junior staff, with average salary equated to a 9-month contract.
| Rank | Faculty Count | Share | Avg Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full Professors | 356 | 23% | $163,068 |
| Associate Professors | 340 | 22% | $112,584 |
| Assistant Professors | 533 | 34% | $105,186 |
| Instructors | 112 | 7% | $54,207 |
| Lecturers | 224 | 14% | $91,212 |
Tulane's defining strengths are its 13.98% selectivity, the culturally unmatched New Orleans location, the nationally ranked School of Public Health, Tulane's deep commitment to service learning (all undergraduates complete a service learning requirement), and strong pre-law, pre-medicine, and public health pipelines. UCD 64.70 Fair, the lowest score in this batch, driven primarily by Value (6.93) and Affordability (3.40).
The core challenge: at $39,949 average net price, ten-year earnings of $63,268, and a 78.74% earnings threshold rate (the lowest in this batch), Tulane's cost-to-outcome ratio is among the weakest of any selective private university; the endowment ($2.65B) is smaller than most peer schools, which limits aid depth. The net price for families earning under $48,000 ($16,126 to $18,041) is high relative to other selective universities with smaller endowments. Best fit for students who specifically want the New Orleans environment, public health, pre-law, or global health careers, and who qualify for meaningful merit aid that reduces net cost substantially below the average.
The questions below address what students and families most commonly search about Tulane: how selective admissions are, what makes New Orleans distinctive as a college location, how the public health school is regarded, and what graduates earn.
One federal dataset, 3,839 colleges. The median school costs $16,371 a year, admits 78% of applicants, and enrolls 1,259 students. The shape of US higher ed.
Across 1,645 four-year colleges, graduation rates climb steadily with selectivity, from 54% at open-admission schools to 93% at the most exclusive. The gap is real.
For-profit colleges post the highest median net price of any sector and the lowest graduate earnings. They cost more than private nonprofits and pay less than publics.
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