Colleges in Puerto Rico: cost, admission and results

"Not reported" means the Department of Education has no figure, often because the college is small, new, or does not take first-time students. Medians are the middle value of the colleges listed here.

The colleges of Puerto Rico in brief

Of the 64 colleges listed for Puerto Rico, 17 are public, 42 are private nonprofit and 5 are private for-profit. By level, 39 mainly award bachelor's degrees, 19 mainly award two-year associate degrees and 6 mainly award graduate degrees. Together they teach about 98,512 undergraduates, 38% of them at public colleges. The three largest, University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez, University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras and Universidad Ana G. Mendez-Gurabo Campus, hold 26% of the total, and the middle-sized college has 662 undergraduates. The towns with the most colleges are San Juan (14), Manati (4) and Carolina (4).

What college costs in Puerto Rico

At the public colleges, the median published tuition and fees are $5,354 a year for students from Puerto Rico. At the private nonprofit colleges the median is $7,050. Published prices are not what most families pay. Counting colleges with at least 300 undergraduates, the lowest average net price after grants is at Instituto Tecnologico de Puerto Rico-Recinto de Manati ($534) and Colegio de Cinematografia Artes y Television ($2,044) and the highest at University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez ($14,997) and Universidad Politecnica de Puerto Rico ($13,797). The median net price across the state, $9,140, is 47% below the national median of $17,357.

Getting in

39 of the 64 colleges report an admission rate. The hardest to get into are Inter American University of Puerto Rico-Fajardo (27% admitted), Inter American University of Puerto Rico-Ponce (34% admitted) and University of Puerto Rico (35% admitted). 16 of them admit at least seven applicants in ten. 17 colleges have an open admission policy and report no rate: they do not turn applicants away on grades or test scores.

Finishing and earning

Among colleges with at least 300 undergraduates, the highest share of students finishing their course is at Albizu University-San Juan (59%), Atlantic University (54%) and EDP University of Puerto Rico-Villalba (52%). The median graduation rate of the state's colleges is 40%, against 49% for the country. Ten years after starting, former students with federal aid earn the most at Universidad Politecnica de Puerto Rico ($50,437), Albizu University-San Juan ($48,006) and University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez ($47,912). The state median for that measure is $29,224, 45% below the national $53,132. Students who finish leave with a median federal loan debt of $9,125 (national median $19,994). Earnings follow the subjects a college teaches as much as its quality, so compare like with like.

Questions about colleges in Puerto Rico

Source: College Scorecard, U.S. Department of Education, data released on 2 November 2026; checked in November 2026. Net price, debt and earnings describe students who received US federal aid. Costs change each year. This is official data for general information, not advice: confirm costs and admission rules on the college's own website and at collegescorecard.ed.gov.

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