The University of Dayton landed at 54th in Poets&Quants‘ 2023 ranking, down from 49th in 2022. The school ranked 34th for Academic Experience, 38th for Career Outcomes, and 77th for Admissions.
Dayton has an acceptance rate of around 76% and over 2,150 enrolled students. Average SAT score for the most recent class is 1240, and average ACT is 26. The class GPA average is 3.76, and more than 13% of the class were in the top 10% of their high school graduating class.
According to Dayton, 99% of undergraduate business students are employed, in grad school, or in a full-time service program within six months of graduation, while 91% complete an internship prior to graduation. The school boasts 10 student-focused experiential learning centers or programs, and 100% student participation in what it terms “meaningful experiential learning activities.” The school also has 22 business-sponsored student clubs and organizations “representing every interest.”
HOME OF THE INCREDIBLE FLYER FUND
Dayton is perhaps most famous for its Flyer Fund, the largest student-managed portfolio in the United States. First launched in 1999 as a small, $1 million fund, by 2010 the Flyer Fund was worth more than $11 million. By 2015, the fund was valued at $22 million, with a portion coming from the university’s endowment and a pool of assets for the Dayton Foundation, a local nonprofit.
The fund really took off in 2021, gaining 63% in a single year to more than $50 million. Through fall 2021, the fund gained another 13.8% to reach a high of $67.8 million.
“It’s a pretty unbelievable group,” says Dayton School of Business Administration Dean Trevor Collier of the dozens of students who work in the Davis Center each year. “Not only are they putting the hours in the Center, but they actually enjoy most of the hours that they’re putting in. If you were in the building right now and we were to walk down into the Center, at least one, maybe two students would jump up, introduce themselves to you, and give you about a two-minute elevator pitch about the center.”
AVERAGE DEBT FOR DAYTON GRADS: $19K
Four years of tuition at Dayton costs just over $180K, and total cost for a degree comes to $257,240. Nearly all students — 97% — receive some scholarship assistance, with the average amount exceeding $30K.
Graduates of the last two graduating classes (2021 and 2022) make an average $57,571; they also carry an average debt amount of around $19K.
Five percent of the current class are first-generation college students, and 12% are under-represented minorities. Thirty-four percent are women.
