Clarkson University is a private not-for-profit institution in Potsdam, New York enrolling 2,196 undergraduates. It accepts 77% of applicants and has an on-time graduation rate of 75%, above the national average of 33%. College Factual ranks it #332 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in its 2027 Best Colleges ranking (top 6%), and its Value for Your Money analysis rates it a Fair Price.
Source: IPEDS 2025; College Scorecard July 2026; College Factual rankings 2027. Data as of: July 2026.
Clarkson University ranks #332 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges ranking, placing it in the top 6%.
College Factual recognizes the best colleges and universities in its annual rankings. These rankings include categories for best overall colleges, best colleges for each major, best value schools, and much more.
Clarkson University was awarded 46 badges in the 2027 rankings.
Clarkson is ranked #332 out of 5,159 schools in the nation for overall quality on College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges list. This puts it in the top 10% of all schools in the nation.
Within the state, Clarkson holds the #33 spot on the Best Colleges in New York ranking.
See all of the rankings for Clarkson University.
Clarkson University has an acceptance rate of 77%, which makes it somewhat selective. Make sure it’s not the only school you apply to, even if it’s your school of choice. Whether you get in or not will largely depend on how you compare to other applicants.
About 51% of students accepted to Clarkson submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 590 and 690. Math scores were between 610 and 700.
Clarkson received ACT scores from 11% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT Composite scores ranged between 25 and 32.
Learn more about Clarkson University admissions.
With a student to faculty ratio of 13 to 1, Clarkson University is about average in this regard as the nationwide rate is 15 to 1. While this does not translate directly to class size, it’s a good indicator of how much time professors will have to spend with their students on a one-on-one basis.
In addition to the student to faculty ratio, some people look at what percentage of faculty members are full-time as a sign of how much time professors will be able to spend with their students. This is because part-time teachers may not be on campus as much as their full-time counterparts.
The full-time faculty percentage at Clarkson University is 78%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.
Clarkson University has a freshmen retention rate of 85%. That’s a good sign that full-time students like the school and their professors enough to want to stick around for another year. It’s also a sign that the admissions team did a good job in choosing applicants who were a good fit for the school.
Students are considered to have graduated on time if they finish their studies within four years. At Clarkson the on-time graduation rate of first-time, full-time students is 75%. That is great when compared to the national average of 33.3%.
Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at Clarkson University.
During the most recent academic year, there were 2,196 undergraduates at Clarkson.
Get more detailed information on the diversity at Clarkson University.
The average net price of Clarkson is $17,140. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group. See the table below for the net price for different income groups.
| $0-30 K | $30K-48K | $48-75 | $75-110K | $110K + |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $21,335 | $19,934 | $23,321 | $30,990 | $35,757 |
The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid. Note that the net price is typically less than the published price for a school. For more information on the sticker price of Clarkson, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.
Almost 66% of college students who graduated with the class of 2018 took out student loans, but that percentage varies from school to school. At Clarkson, approximately 62% of students took out student loans averaging $6,280 a year. That adds up to $25,120 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate is 2.0%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you’ll be able to pay back your student loans. Get more details about paying for Clarkson University.
The pay for some majors is higher than others, but on average, students who graduate with a bachelor’s degree from Clarkson University make about $89,696 a year during their first few years of employment after graduation. This is good news for future Clarkson University graduates since it is 82% more than the average college graduate’s salary of $49,219 per year.
See which majors at Clarkson University make the most money.
Clarkson University is a private not-for-profit institution found in Potsdam, New York. Potsdam is a good match for students who enjoy small-town life. Get more details about the location of Clarkson University.
Get in touch with Clarkson University are given below.
| Contact Details | |
|---|---|
| Address: | 8 Clarkson Ave, Potsdam, NY 13699 |
| Phone: | 3152686400 |
| Website: | www.clarkson.edu |
| Wikipedia: | en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarkson_University |
| Facebook: | www.facebook.com/ClarksonUniversity |
| Twitter: | twitter.com/ClarksonUniv |
During the most recent year for which we have data, students from 17 majors graduated from Clarkson University. The following table lists the most popular undergraduate majors along with the average salary graduates from those majors make.
| Most Popular Majors | Completions | Average Salary of Graduates |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-Disciplinary Studies | 1,232 | NA |
| Mechanical Engineering | 170 | $68,663 |
| Electrical Engineering | 106 | $79,427 |
| Business Administration & Management | 104 | $62,280 |
| Data Science. | 87 | NA |
| Engineering-Related Fields | 79 | $73,179 |
| Civil Engineering | 77 | $61,598 |
| Computer Science | 71 | $67,495 |
| Aeronautical Engineering | 52 | $65,036 |
| Chemical Engineering | 49 | $58,898 |
291 students took at least one online class at Clarkson University.
Online courses are a great option for busy, working students as well as for those who have scheduling conflicts and want to study on their own time. As time goes by, expect to see more and more online learning options become available.
Learn more about online learning at Clarkson University.
Interested in comparing Clarkson? Match them up using College Combat, our free interactive tool that lets you compare colleges on the features that matter most to you.
Footnotes
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
References