Puerto Rico Colleges: Tuition, Debt & Earnings (2026 stats)

Analysis & insights

EDsmart Data aggregates institution-level College Scorecard data for this profile. Highlights below compare local medians to U.S. and regional benchmarks.

Costs & borrowing

Puerto Rico median public in-state tuition is $5,314, about -3.6% vs the national median. Versus the Outlying Areas region, tuition is -0.2%.

Median graduate debt is $9,500 (-29.3% below the U.S. median of $13,432, and 0.0% vs the Outlying Areas regional median of $9,500). Low sticker prices do not always mean low borrowing—living costs, time-to-degree, and aid mix matter.

Student debt rank: #4 nationally of 48 (lower debt = better rank); #1 in Outlying Areas of 1 (1 = lowest median debt).

On published in-state tuition, Puerto Rico ranks #21 nationally (1 = lowest median sticker among states with data).

Earnings, employment & retention

Among bachelor's-predominant campuses with ≥200 students, median 10-year earnings in Puerto Rico are $26,510, about -51.2% vs the U.S. campus median ($54,323).

The median campus reports 78.0% of its 8-year cohort as working and not enrolled—our closest federal proxy to a placement rate. The U.S. campus median is 87.9% (-9.9 pp). Formal job-placement statistics are not published in Scorecard; treat this as a comparative outcome indicator, not a hire guarantee.

First-year, full-time retention at the median campus is 76.4% vs a U.S. median of 76.3%—a leading indicator for completion and time-to-degree.

Loan repayment indicators at the median campus: 2-yr default 9.6% (U.S. 5.0%); 3-yr repayment progress 62.8% (U.S. 73.7%). 3-yr default is omitted when most campuses report suppressed zeros.

Nationally, Puerto Rico ranks earnings #52 and employment proxy #44 on these outcome medians (1 = best).

Top employment-outcome campuses in this extract include Universidad Politecnica de Puerto Rico (85.6%), Albizu University-San Juan (84.7%), University of Puerto Rico-Humacao (84.6%), University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez (84.5%), University of Puerto Rico-Carolina (83.6%), University of Puerto Rico-Bayamon (83.4%), University of Puerto Rico at Cayey (82.1%), University of Puerto Rico-Arecibo (81.2%), University of Puerto Rico-Aguadilla (81.1%), University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras (81.1%)—useful anchors for local reporting on where graduates are most often working rather than still enrolled.

Completion & workforce context

Within Puerto Rico, sector medians diverge: Private nonprofit median 10-yr earnings $24,964 (22 campuses); Public median 10-yr earnings $30,626 (13 campuses). Public campuses often dominate enrollment while private nonprofits can show higher earnings medians at selective institutions.

Average institution-level completion rate across all sectors in Puerto Rico is 44.4% (national institution average about 50.3%).

National Student Clearinghouse data cite roughly 179,498 residents with some college but no credential in Puerto Rico (YoY change 4.40%). That stock of incomplete credentials sits alongside the completion and employment metrics above.