Rivier University
Nashua, NH
Rivier University is a private, Catholic university in Nashua, New Hampshire, a small city, with 1,231 undergraduates. Health professions and education are its signature fields: together they make up 69% of its bachelor's degrees, about five times their share across the colleges we cover. 52% of students finish within six years, and former students who are working earn a median of $52,248 ten years after starting.
Rivier University admitted 1,430 of 1,749 applicants for the fall 2023 entering class (81.8%).
- Acceptance rate
- 81.8%
- Fall 2023 class
- Tuition and fees
- $39,488
- 2024–25 school year
- Paid after aid
- $28,082
- Average, students with aid
- SAT, middle 50%
- Reading 545–590 · Math 510–585
Every figure on this page is published by the college or a federal survey, compiled by GoodGoblin, and carries the source it came from. They describe the fall 2023 entering class, a read on the school, not a prediction about any one applicant.
What Rivier University is known for
Measured by the 241 bachelor's degrees it awarded in 2022–23, and what its graduates went on to earn.
Health professions
60.6%
of its bachelor's degrees: about seven times the 9.1% share across the colleges we cover.
Education
8.3%
of its bachelor's degrees: about twice the 3.9% share across the colleges we cover.
- Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing12049.8% of degrees$91,727About the $88,910 national median
- Health Services/Allied Health/Health Sciences239.5% of degreesToo few graduates to publish
- Business Administration, Management and Operations197.9% of degrees$69,102About the $68,257 national median
- Psychology156.2% of degrees$56,686+12% vs $50,706 nationally
- Biology125.0% of degreesToo few graduates to publish
- Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods114.6% of degrees$48,523About the $47,382 national median
Source: the College Scorecard (U.S. Department of Education), field-of-study data. Degrees are bachelor's degrees awarded in 2022–23. Earnings are the median for 2017–18 and 2018–19 graduates, in 2024 dollars, working and not enrolled, four years after graduating. Shares across the colleges we cover count every bachelor's degree at the colleges with a page here.
The place
Where it is, how big it is, and how students live.
Setting
Small city
Nashua, NH
Undergraduates
1,231
Fall 2024
Type
Private, nonprofit
Master's university, medium programs
Living on campus
A quarter to half
of undergraduates live on campus
Students per faculty member
14 to 1
Fall 2024
International students
0%
of undergraduates, fall 2024
Source: the College Scorecard (U.S. Department of Education), including the Carnegie Classification and the federal locale code it publishes.
What stands out at Rivier University
Three things Rivier University published, ranked by how much each could change what you actually do, not by how impressive it looks. Every one describes a class that has already enrolled.
Rivier University reports that test scores are not considered at all.
That is the school’s own answer on the form it fills in every year. A score you send is not read as part of the decision here.
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
The admit rate rose from 73% to 82% between fall 2018 and fall 2023.
Both ends are measured rates for classes that have already enrolled: a rate that moved, not a forecast. The fall 2023 figure is the one at the top of this page.
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2018 to fall 2023
Families paid $28,082 on average after aid.
Averaged across students who received federal aid: the price after grants and scholarships, not the sticker price.
Source: the College Scorecard
Every figure, in full
The same measured fields on every one of these pages. Nothing is filled in where the school published nothing.
Acceptance rate
81.8%
1,430 admitted of 1,749 applicants
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
SAT, middle 50%
Reading 545–590Math 510–585
Source: the College Scorecard
Where do you actually stand at Rivier University?
The figures on this page describe a class that already enrolled. GoodGoblin reads them against your own transcript, scores, activities and budget, then builds the balanced list, the essay plan and the deadline calendar around what it finds.
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What Rivier University costs
The published price first, then what students who received aid actually paid, by family income.
Tuition and fees for 2024–25 were $39,488, and the full cost of attendance, with housing, food and books, was $53,499. After grants and scholarships, students who received financial aid paid $28,082 a year on average.
Tuition and fees
$39,488
2024–25 school year
Full cost of attendance
$53,499
Tuition, fees, housing, food and books
Paid after aid
$28,082
Average, students who received aid
What students paid, by family income
Each bar is that figure as a share of the $53,499 full cost.
- Under $30k$23,321Typical public university: $10,013
- $30k–$48k$23,978Typical public university: $10,847
- $48k–$75k$25,106Typical public university: $13,703
- $75k–$110k$27,352Typical public university: $17,979
- Over $110k$31,359Typical public university: $22,475
Source: the federal College Scorecard. Tuition and cost of attendance are for the 2024–25 school year; colleges usually raise them each year. What students paid is the average net price for first-year students who received federal financial aid. Typical public university: the median across the 338 public universities on GoodGoblin, for in-state students, compiled by GoodGoblin from the same federal data.
Where it leads
Who finishes, who stays, and what they earn and owe afterwards.
Finish within six years
52%
Our colleges' median: 63%
Return for a second year
76%
Our colleges' median: 79%
Earnings after 10 years
$52,248
Our colleges' median: $57,440
Median debt at graduation
$26,956
Our colleges' median: $23,725
Source: the College Scorecard (U.S. Department of Education). Six-year completion describes students who started in fall 2018; second-year return describes students who started in fall 2023; earnings describe students who started in 2009–10 and 2010–11, measured in 2020 and 2021, in 2022 dollars; debt describes federal loans of students who graduated in fiscal years 2020 and 2021. Medians are across the 1,034 colleges with a page here.
How the rate has moved
Two measured admit rates from the federal survey, the years apart it reports them. A rate that moved, not a forecast.
Between fall 2018 and fall 2023 the admit rate rose from 73% to 82%.
What Rivier University says it weighs
The school's own words, from the form it fills in every year. Ranked as it ranks them.
- Essayrequired
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
- Course rigorrequired
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
- GPArequired
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
- Recommendationsrequired
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
Not considered
- Test scores
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
- Class rank
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
- Legacy
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
Essays on this application
1 essay prompt on the application: you would write it.
Published deadlines
Each date is read from the college's own materials and re-checked on a schedule.
- Early ActionNovember 15, 2026
Verified August 19, 2026
- Early Action 2December 15, 2026
Verified August 19, 2026
- Rolling AdmissionJuly 28, 2027
More colleges on the record
Each of these pages carries the same measured figures and sources.
Other colleges in New Hampshire
Closest acceptance rates in the same state.
- Saint Anselm College78.3%
- Keene State College89.1%
- University of New Hampshire-Main Campus89.1%
- Colby-Sawyer College90%
Colleges with a similar acceptance rate
Closest acceptance rates anywhere in the country.
The GoodGoblin College Data Report: five findings counted across 1,034 colleges ›
Build the list this school belongs on.
The figures on this page describe a class that already enrolled. GoodGoblin reads them against your own transcript, scores, activities and budget, then builds the balanced list, the essay plan and the deadline calendar around what it finds.
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