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Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico-Arecibo

Arecibo, PR · official site ↗

Private nonprofitDoctoral/Professional UniversitySmall
56
Fin. Resilience
Resilience score

vs. 140 peers in its group

Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico-Arecibo is a private nonprofit institution in Arecibo, PR, classified by Carnegie as “Doctoral/Professional University.”

It enrolls about 273 undergraduates and is benchmarked here against 140 peer institutions (Doctoral/Professional University · Private nonprofit).

On Ibex's Financial Resilience score it rates 56 out of 100 within that peer group, a transparent composite of endowment per undergraduate, net tuition revenue per student, and instructional spend per student.

Its strongest standing relative to peers is average net price ($11,117, 2nd percentile).

Its weakest is 3-yr cohort default rate (15.7%).

Ibex's cross-metric scan flags: Undergrad enrollment down 55% since 2016.

Peer group

Doctoral/Professional University · Private nonprofit

140 institutions

Undergrad enrollment down 55% since 2016
Financial Health Index
8.6
on a −4 to 10 scale
Financial Health IndexStrong

NACUBO Composite Financial Index — the balance-sheet health score accreditors and institutional boards use to gauge financial health; bond-rating agencies track similar ratios. reported at parent/system level — reflects Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico-Ponce (excluded from rankings and peer percentiles).

Primary reserve 35%13.1 mo
Reserves vs. debt 35%1165.11×
Return on net assets 20%12.5%
Operating result 10%19.8%

Composite of four ratios on a strength-factor scale (−4 weak → 10 strong): below 3 falls short of the threshold for financial health, below 1 signals acute stress, and above 6 is strong. Computed from IPEDS FY2022-23, the most recent finance release (it lags the current year by 2–3 years). Branch campuses that report finances at a parent/system level can show distorted ratios. For informational benchmarking, not a credit rating or financial advice.

Revenue composition
Where the money comes from $81.2M total revenue · IPEDS FY2022-23

Reported at parent/system level — reflects Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico-Ponce.

Tuition & fees is the largest single source at 62% of revenue.

Tuition & fees61.8%
Government grants & contracts23.4%
Investment return8.2%
Other revenue6.0%
Private gifts & grants0.4%
Auxiliary enterprises0.1%

Where each dollar of revenue comes from, as a share of total positive revenue. Sources are standardized across public (GASB) and private (FASB) reporting; a net investment loss in a down market is shown as 0% and excluded from the mix.

Net price by income
Average net price by family income After grant & scholarship aid · Scorecard 2024-25
$0–30K$10,939
$30–48K$10,883
$48–75K$15,333

Average annual net price (total cost minus grant and scholarship aid) paid by federal-aid recipients in each family-income band. Lower-income bands often pay less where need-based aid is strong.

Financial Health
Net tuition revenue / FTETuition revenue per full-time-equivalent student after institutional aid/discounts — what tuition actually nets.
Strong
$20,544
70th percentile in peer grouppeer median $17,944
Instructional spend / FTESpending on instruction per FTE student — how much of the budget reaches the classroom.
Strong
$15,299
86th percentile in peer grouppeer median $11,374
Endowment (end of year)Total endowment value at year end — long-term invested wealth that funds operations and cushions shocks.
Below peers
$3.9M
3rd percentile in peer grouppeer median $80.3M
In-state tuition & feesPublished in-state tuition and fees before aid (sticker price).
$6,550
1st percentile in peer grouppeer median $38,130
Out-of-state tuition & feesPublished out-of-state tuition and fees before aid (sticker price).
$6,550
1st percentile in peer grouppeer median $38,130
Avg annual cost of attendanceAverage total annual cost — tuition, fees and living costs — before aid.
$18,678
2nd percentile in peer grouppeer median $52,680
Avg monthly faculty salaryAverage monthly salary of full-time faculty (IPEDS) — a proxy for faculty investment.
Below peers
$4,327
1st percentile in peer grouppeer median $8,331
Average monthly salary of full-time faculty, as reported to IPEDS.
Average net priceAverage yearly price families actually pay after grants and scholarships.
Strong
$11,117
2nd percentile in peer grouppeer median $24,484
Endowment per undergradEndowment divided by undergraduate headcount — endowment wealth behind each undergrad.
Below peers
$14,237
12th percentile in peer grouppeer median $44,741
Endowment per FTE studentEndowment per full-time-equivalent student — the FTE-correct measure of endowment wealth per student.
Below peers
$7,489
9th percentile in peer grouppeer median $25,289
End-of-year endowment ÷ 12-month FTE enrollment — endowment wealth per full-time-equivalent student. The FTE-correct companion to endowment-per-undergraduate; FTE counts graduate and part-time load, so research universities look less wealthy on this basis than on a headcount basis.
Operating marginNet surplus as a share of total revenue — whether the institution runs in the black.
Strong
14.9%
Parent/system level
Reported at parent/system level — reflects Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico-Ponce. Excluded from rankings and peer percentiles.
Tuition dependencyTuition's share of total revenue — how exposed the budget is to enrollment swings.
61.8%
Parent/system level
Reported at parent/system level — reflects Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico-Ponce. Excluded from rankings and peer percentiles.
Tuition discount rateInstitutional grant aid as a share of gross tuition (IPEDS, private nonprofits only) — the tuition-discount rate. The share of sticker tuition handed back as aid; a high rate (the national average is ~56%) signals heavy price competition for students.
Moderate
6.1%
Parent/system level
Reported at parent/system level — reflects Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico-Ponce. Excluded from rankings and peer percentiles.
State appropriations shareState appropriations' share of total revenue — material for public institutions, near zero for private.
0%
Parent/system level
Reported at parent/system level — reflects Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico-Ponce. Excluded from rankings and peer percentiles.
Administrative cost shareInstitutional support (central administration, governance, general administration, fundraising, and under FASB the operation & maintenance of plant) as a share of total expenses — private nonprofit (FASB) institutions only, where the figure is comparable. An informational gauge of administrative intensity, not a measure of waste.
24.5%
Parent/system level
Reported at parent/system level — reflects Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico-Ponce. Excluded from rankings and peer percentiles.
Months of operating cushionMonths of operating expenses covered by expendable reserves — the institution's cash cushion.
Strong
13.1 mo
Parent/system level
Reported at parent/system level — reflects Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico-Ponce. Excluded from rankings and peer percentiles.
Reserves vs. debtExpendable reserves divided by long-term debt — whether reserves could cover the debt.
Strong
1165.11×
Parent/system level
Reported at parent/system level — reflects Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico-Ponce. Excluded from rankings and peer percentiles.
Return on net assetsChange in net assets over the year — whether the institution grew wealthier.
Strong
12.5%
Parent/system level
Reported at parent/system level — reflects Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico-Ponce. Excluded from rankings and peer percentiles.
Graduation & completion
Graduation rate · first-time, full-time
53.9%

53.9% graduate within 6 years (150% of normal time)
28.4% on-time, within 4 years (100%)
Counts only students who entered full-time as first-time freshmen and earned a bachelor's here — the conventional headline rate. Excludes part-time entrants and transfer-ins.

Completion rate · all students
46.8%

46.8% earned a degree or certificate within 8 years (IPEDS Outcome Measures)
The broader cohort — also counts part-time entrants and transfer-ins, and any credential. More inclusive, so it can run higher than the graduation rate.

Why two numbers? They measure different students over different windows, so they are not directly comparable. The graduation rate is the standard federal headline but tracks only first-time, full-time students through a bachelor's; the all-students completion rate adds the part-time and transfer students it leaves out, over a longer window. Read each for what it covers. Source: U.S. Department of Education — IPEDS Graduation Rates & Outcome Measures, via College Scorecard.

Enrollment & Pipeline
Undergraduate enrollmentNumber of degree-seeking undergraduates (IPEDS fall headcount). A size measure, not a quality signal.
273
4th percentile in peer grouppeer median 2,213
Admission rateShare of applicants offered admission. Lower means more selective; open-admission schools report none.
93.8%
86th percentile in peer grouppeer median 77.2%
First-year retentionShare of first-time, full-time freshmen who return for a second year — an early signal of student fit and support.
Strong
87%
91st percentile in peer grouppeer median 76.2%
Graduation rate (6-yr · first-time, full-time)Of first-time, full-time freshmen, the share who earn a bachelor's at this institution within six years (150% of normal time) — the conventional headline graduation rate. It counts only first-time, full-time students and excludes part-time entrants and transfer-ins, who are captured instead by the all-students completion rate.
Below peers
53.9%
28th percentile in peer grouppeer median 60.3%
Graduation rate (4-yr on-time · first-time, full-time)Of first-time, full-time freshmen, the share who earn a bachelor's within four years (100% of normal time) — the 'on-time' rate. It runs well below the six-year rate because many students take a fifth or sixth year; same first-time, full-time cohort as the six-year rate.
Below peers
28.4%
9th percentile in peer grouppeer median 49.1%
Pell recipient shareShare of undergraduates on a federal Pell Grant — a proxy for the share from lower-income families.
68.8%
98th percentile in peer grouppeer median 30.6%
Program concentration (HHI)How concentrated a school's annual completions are across academic fields, as a Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (10,000 = one field, lower = many). Higher means more reliance on a few fields; lower means a diversified program portfolio.
Moderately concentrated
2,192
— percentile in peer group
How concentrated the institution's degree and certificate output is across academic fields (CIP 2-digit families), as a Herfindahl-Hirschman Index on the latest year's completions: 10,000 means every completion is in one field; lower means output is spread across many. A higher value means the school leans on fewer fields and is more exposed to demand shifts in them; a lower value reflects a broad program portfolio. Shown for institutions reporting at least 100 annual completions. A structural-diversification signal, not a measure of quality.
12-month FTE enrollmentFull-time-equivalent enrollment over the full year — the denominator for per-student finance measures.
519
1st percentile in peer grouppeer median 3,470
Full-time-equivalent enrollment over the full 12-month year (IPEDS 12-month enrollment, 2022-23). Counts part-time students at their fractional load, so it runs above fall full-time headcount and is the denominator used for per-student finance measures.
Student-faculty ratioStudents per instructional faculty member — lower usually means smaller classes and more contact.
12:1
53rd percentile in peer grouppeer median 12:1
Students per instructional faculty member (IPEDS, fall 2023). Lower generally means smaller classes and more faculty contact, though the measure mixes undergraduate and graduate teaching and is institution-reported.
Completion rate (all students · 8-yr)Of ALL entering degree-seeking undergraduates — full- and part-time, first-time and transfer-in — the share who earned a degree or certificate at this institution within eight years (IPEDS Outcome Measures). Broader than the graduation rate, which counts only first-time, full-time students, so the two are measured on different students and are not directly comparable.
Below peers
46.8%
12th percentile in peer grouppeer median 62.8%
Share of ALL entering degree-seeking undergraduates — full- and part-time, first-time and transfer-in — who earned a degree or certificate at this institution within eight years (IPEDS Outcome Measures, via College Scorecard). Broader and more inclusive than the graduation-rate figures, which count only first-time, full-time students entering a bachelor's program — so the two are measured on different groups of students and are not directly comparable.
Admission yield
Strong
22.5%
74th percentile in peer grouppeer median 16.7%
Share of admitted students who enrolled (IPEDS Admissions, Fall 2023): students who enrolled ÷ students admitted. A demand signal — how many accepted offers the institution converts to enrollment. Higher yield generally reflects stronger demand, though binding early-decision programs and price positioning can inflate it. Open-admission institutions do not report admissions and show none.
Student body
Undergraduate race & ethnicity IPEDS 2024-25
Hispanic/Latino100.0%

Undergraduate enrollment by race and ethnicity, as reported to IPEDS (College Scorecard). “International” denotes nonresident students; “Unknown” means race/ethnicity was not reported.

Student Outcomes & Risk
Median earnings (10 yr)Median earnings of former students ten years after first enrolling (working, federally-aided students).
Below peers
$24,908
1st percentile in peer grouppeer median $57,106
Median debt at graduationMedian federal loan debt graduates carry at the point they complete.
Strong
$15,500
5th percentile in peer grouppeer median $24,234
3-yr cohort default rateShare of borrowers who default within three years of entering repayment. Lower is better.
Below peers
15.7%
100th percentile in peer grouppeer median 4.8%
Share of borrowers who defaulted within three years of entering repayment (U.S. Dept. of Education official cohort default rate). Shown for the FY2017 borrower cohort — the most recent cohort whose full three-year default window closed before the 2020-23 federal student-loan payment pause. More recent cohorts are reported by the College Scorecard at essentially 0%, but that reflects the payment pause (no payments were due, so almost no one could default), not borrower health, so the pre-pause cohort is the last meaningful reading. Lower is better.
Share taking federal loansShare of students taking out federal loans — a borrowing-reliance signal.
28.3%
11th percentile in peer grouppeer median 48.9%
Full-time faculty shareShare of faculty employed full-time — higher generally means more availability and continuity.
Average
50%
44th percentile in peer grouppeer median 55.1%
Debt-to-earnings ratioMedian graduate debt divided by median earnings — how heavy the debt load is versus what graduates earn. Lower is better.
Below peers
0.62×
100th percentile in peer grouppeer median 0.40×
Return on credentialMedian 10-year earnings divided by the four-year cost of attendance (annual cost × 4) — a rough payback ratio for the degree.
Strong
0.33×
83rd percentile in peer grouppeer median 0.28×
Median 10-year earnings divided by the four-year cost of attendance (average annual cost × 4). A rough payback ratio: 1.0× means a graduate's annual 10-year earnings roughly equal the full four-year sticker cost. Earnings reflect federally-aided students; cost of attendance is the published sticker price before aid, so this is conservative relative to what families net of aid pay.
Field-demand outlook (10-yr)Employment-weighted 10-year BLS job-growth projection for the occupations this school's program mix feeds (U.S. all-occupations benchmark +3.1%). An indicative broad-field demand signal, not a program-specific or placement guarantee.
Fast-growing field mix
+6.7%
97th percentile in peer group
Projected 10-year (2024-34) change in U.S. employment for the occupations this institution's degrees and certificates feed, blended across its program mix. Built by mapping each CIP 2-digit field to its occupations via the NCES CIP-SOC crosswalk, taking the employment-weighted average of each occupation's BLS-projected percent change, then weighting fields by the institution's latest-year completions. The U.S. all-occupations benchmark is 3.1%, so a higher value means the school's graduates concentrate in faster-growing labor markets. An INDICATIVE field-level signal at broad-field granularity — not a program-specific or graduate-specific projection, and not a placement or earnings guarantee. Structurally diffuse CIP families whose crosswalk maps to 'any job' are excluded from the signal: 05 Area/Ethnic/Gender Studies, 24 Liberal Arts & Humanities, and 30 Multi/Interdisciplinary. Shown where at least 50% of completions fall in fields with a coherent occupational mapping and the school reports 100+ annual completions.
Loan repayment rate (3-yr)
31.8%
1st percentile in peer grouppeer median 64.1%
Share of student-loan borrowers who had repaid at least $1 of their loan principal within three years of entering repayment (College Scorecard, FY2024-25). Read it as context, not a simple good/bad score: a low rate can mean borrowers are struggling, but it can also mean many graduates have postponed payments while enrolled in graduate or professional school, which is common at selective schools and pushes their rate down. Unlike the cohort default rate, it is not distorted by the 2020-23 federal payment pause. Reported only where enough borrowers exist.
Top fields of study (bachelor's)

Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico-Arecibo’s largest fields by completions, with graduate earnings (4 years out) and debt benchmarked against the same field at its peer group. Sparklines show the 8-year completions trend.

FieldCompletions / yrMedian earnings, 4 yrs outMedian debtEarnings premiumRisk score
Biological & Biomedical Sciences42$27,205
2th pct · 82 peers
—Above benchmark +65%Low · 4
Social Sciences9$22,958
3th pct · 63 peers
—Above benchmark +40%Low · 21
Liberal Arts & Humanities5$28,523
6th pct · 36 peers
—Above benchmark +73%Moderate · 50
Business, Management & Marketing4$25,761
1th pct · 124 peers
—Above benchmark +57%Moderate · 50
Psychology4$24,118
2th pct · 106 peers
—Above benchmark +47%Low · 33
Education2$33,856
3th pct · 79 peers
—Above benchmark +106%Moderate · 50
Natural Resources & Conservation1———High · 100

All 6 top fields shown clear the PR state earnings-premium benchmark (indicative).

Earnings-premium status is an indicative estimate: median graduate earnings four years out vs the PR state median earnings of a high-school graduate (undergraduate credentials) or a bachelor’s-degree holder (graduate credentials) from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (2022 ACS 5-year). The official U.S. Department of Education determination uses its own cohort definition and may differ.

The risk score (0–100) is an indicative blend of earnings-premium margin and the five-year completions trend—higher means a field pays closer to (or below) the benchmark and is shrinking. A directional screen, not an official determination.

See the interactive dashboard for all fields and credential levels (associate through doctoral). Source: College Scorecard Field of Study.

Frequently asked
How financially healthy is Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico-Arecibo?
Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico-Arecibo does not file its own IPEDS finance survey — its finances are reported by its parent institution, Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico-Ponce, which scores 8.6 (Strong) on the NACUBO Composite Financial Index (the −4 to 10 balance-sheet score accreditors and boards use), computed from IPEDS FY2022-23 finances. This parent-level figure is informational benchmarking, not a credit rating.
How selective is Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico-Arecibo?
Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico-Arecibo admits about 94% of applicants, and roughly 87% of first-year students return for a second year.
What is Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico-Arecibo's student-faculty ratio?
Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico-Arecibo reports a student-faculty ratio of 12:1 (IPEDS, fall 2023) — that is, about 12 students for every instructional faculty member.
How much does Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico-Arecibo cost?
The average published cost of attendance is $18,678 and the average net price after aid is $11,117 (College Scorecard).
How much do Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico-Arecibo graduates earn?
Median earnings ten years after entry are $24,908 (College Scorecard), measured across students who received federal aid.
Are Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico-Arecibo's programs at risk under the federal earnings-premium test?
Indicatively, at Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico-Arecibo, all 6 of the largest fields with available earnings data clear the PR state earnings-premium benchmark used by the 2025 federal test (effective July 1, 2026) — median graduate earnings (four years out) exceed those of a typical worker without the credential. This is an estimate using College Scorecard earnings vs ACS medians; the official Department of Education determination may differ.
Compare with peers
Albizu University-MiamiCapitol Technology UniversityNorthcentral UniversityTrinity International University-IllinoisOakland City UniversityBastyr University

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Source: U.S. Department of Education — College Scorecard & IPEDS (most recent releases), with the U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (Employment Projections, field-demand outlook) and WICHE (enrollment-cliff projections). Figures lag the current academic year by roughly two to three years. Percentiles and medians are computed within the institution's peer group. Financial Resilience is a transparent composite — see each component above. Compiled by Ibex Insights.