Is Saint Peter's University Worth It?

Saint Peter's University gives you a middling financial return that depends almost entirely on your major. Median earnings ten years out land near $58,000 with median debt around $20,500, so the typical graduate carries manageable debt against a modest salary. The 63% graduation rate and 72% retention rate mean a real share of enrolled students leave without finishing, and leaving with debt but no degree is the worst outcome here.

Nursing is the clear winner. At roughly $82,000 a year with lower-than-average debt, it pays off fast, and Jersey City's proximity to New York and northern New Jersey hospital systems keeps demand high. Accounting clears the school's median and travels well in a metro packed with financial and corporate employers. Below that, the payoff thins out. Marketing, general business administration, and international business all land under $50,000, with international business near $40,000 while carrying typical debt. If you enroll in one of those business tracks, your return looks weak given four years of cost.

The net price tiers reward lower-income families and penalize the middle. If your family earns under $48,000, you pay around $10,500 to $11,500 a year. Jump to the $75,000-$110,000 band and your price nearly doubles to about $18,000, then climbs again above $110,000. Families in that upper-middle range absorb the steepest real cost.

This school fits you if you're targeting nursing or accounting, especially from a lower-income household where the net price stays low. Look harder if you're planning a general business or international business degree, since the earnings don't justify the price for higher-income families paying $18,000-plus a year. Match the major to the payoff and finish what you start.