Saint Ambrose University

Saint Ambrose University, a Catholic university in Davenport, Iowa, scores 57 (Below Average Value tier) - a respectable middle-of-the-pack profile. Sticker tuition of $36,658 is substantial, but average net price of $24,691 reflects meaningful institutional discounting (about $12K off list), putting four-year cost at $98,764. Median earnings six years out are $41,500, climbing solidly to $59,531 by year ten - a 43% increase showing real career acceleration. Median federal debt of $25,000 against those earnings produces a 0.60 debt-to-earnings ratio (sub-score 50). Payback period of 9.7 years (sub-score 63) is workable. Completion rate of 61% (sub-score 62) is decent for a regional private. Three-year repayment rate of 76.1% (sub-score 58) is solid. Earnings premium of 0.25 (sub-score 54) is moderate. The honest read: Saint Ambrose performs consistently across all sub-scores without any standout strength or weakness - a school doing the basic job competently for the Quad Cities region. The professional programs (engineering, nursing, accounting, business) anchor the value, while the kinesiology and biology programs face the structural pre-health graduate-school dependency that produces difficult immediate post-grad math. Students who finish and pick a professional major see workable returns; the school is solid value for its tier without being exceptional.

Saint Ambrose fits the Quad Cities or eastern Iowa student looking for a small (1,916 students) Catholic liberal arts experience with reasonable proximity to home. Pell rate of 31.6% indicates a mixed-income but substantially working-class student body. The strongest fit is for nursing, engineering, accounting, or business students targeting Iowa, Illinois, or Wisconsin labor markets. The 61% completion rate is workable for prepared students, but persistence support matters; uncertain students should think hard about whether a smaller residential private vs an in-state public makes more financial sense.