What You'll Actually Pay
Price after grants
$16,681 to $29,547 a year for in-state students, depending on income.
College Scorecard 2024 estimate · in-state rates
See the price at your income ↑Sticker price
Full cost before aid: $34,919 a year in-state. Average need-based aid package: $13,176.Aid and debt
$34,342
average debt at graduation
7,409
students got merit aid
about 26% of undergraduates
$8,461
average merit award
Not reported by this school: share receiving need-based grants.
Getting In
Key dates
Test scores
SAT, middle 50% of those who submitted: 1280–1370 · 19% of the class submitted
ACT, middle 50% of those who submitted: 26–31 · 72% of the class submitted
35% were in the top 10% of their high school class.
What they value
- Very important
- GPA
- SAT/ACT scores
- Personal essay
- Important
- Course rigor (AP/IB)
- Extracurriculars
- Special talent
- Character
- First-gen status
- Legacy status
- Where you're from
- In-state residency
- Volunteer work
- Work experience
- Demonstrated interest
- Considered
- Recommendations
- Not considered
- Class rank
What this means for you
Auburn rates your essay as Very Important, and course rigor, your activities, and your first-gen status as Important.
MoreLess
The essay is weighted like your GPA. AP, IB, and dual-enrollment classes strengthen an application here — a strong mix of them helps. Depth and leadership in a few activities matter more than a long list. And being first-generation can help your application here.
Auburn rates demonstrated interest 'Important' — real weight in the decision.
Source: Common Data Set 2025–26, Section C7 (admissions factors)
Auburn just showed you what it values in an application. Use that to write a Why-Auburn essay that's actually about you — not a template.
Get sourced starting points for your essayStudent Life
33.3% of Auburn classes have fewer than 20 students.
33.3%
under 20 students
50%
20 to 49
16.7%
50 or more
Every class section counts, labs and seminars included; first-year courses tend to be larger. Auburn CDS 2025–26, I-3.
21:1
student:faculty ratio
Campus life
17%
live on campus
30%
of men in fraternities
53%
of women in sororities
Who attends
- White82.9%
- Hispanic5%
- Black3.8%
- Multiracial3.4%
- Asian2.9%
- Unknown / other0.4%
Enrolled undergraduates; international students are counted separately and not included. Auburn CDS 2025–26, B2.
Popular majors
Will They Graduate?
61.7% of Auburn students graduate in 4 years.
61.7%
finish in 4 years
Entered fall 2019
81.9%
finish in 6 years
Entered fall 2019
94.2%
return after first year
Finishing late means paying for extra semesters, so the 4-year rate is the one that shows the cost.
Students with Pell Grants
69.4% finish in 6 years, against 81.9% of all students.
A 12.5-point gap: Pell Grant students finish less often than students overall.
City & Culture
Beyond the data — what it's actually like to spend four years in Auburn.
Auburn is a Southern college town on the Alabama-Georgia line, roughly halfway between Montgomery and Columbus and under two hours from Atlanta.
MoreLess
Toomer's Corner, where campus meets downtown, is the literal and social centre.
The City
College town
Auburn, AL
Best For
Notable alumni
Notable Alumni
Tim Cook
Chief executive of Apple, who earned a degree in industrial engineering at Auburn in 1982
Class of 1982
Jimmy Wales
Co-founder of Wikipedia, who earned his bachelor's degree in finance at Auburn
Class of 1989
Octavia Spencer
Academy Award-winning actor for The Help, and a three-time Oscar nominee
Class of 1994
Bo Jackson
Heisman Trophy winner who went on to play both professional football and Major League Baseball
Alumni selected for name recognition and range of fields. Not from the Common Data Set.
Traditions
Traditions
Rolling Toomer's Corner
After a win, students and townspeople cover the oak trees at Toomer's Corner in toilet paper. The original oaks were poisoned by a rival fan in 2010 and replaced; the tradition continued through the gap.
War Eagle
Auburn's battle cry, and the pre-game eagle flight around Jordan-Hare Stadium. It is used as a greeting between Auburn people anywhere, not only at games.
Hey Day
A day each semester when students wear name tags and are expected to greet everyone they pass, begun after the Second World War to reintegrate returning veterans.
Weekend escapes from Auburn
Weekend Escapes
Within driving distance from Auburn
Atlanta
1 hour 45 minutesThe nearest major city and the practical international airport.
Chewacla State Park
10 minutesWaterfall, lake and mountain-bike trails immediately south of town.
The Gulf Coast
4 hoursGulf Shores and Orange Beach, the standard Alabama spring destination.
Getting there and game days
Getting There & Game Days
Nearest airport
Montgomery Regional (MGM)
1 hour from campus
For international flights: Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International (ATL) — about 1 hour 45 minutes by road.
Pro sports nearby
- Atlanta Braves MLB
- Atlanta Falcons NFL
- Atlanta United MLS
Internships and jobs nearby
Career Proximity
Auburn's pipeline is engineering and manufacturing across the Southeast — the automotive corridor through Alabama and Georgia, plus aerospace and defence work around Huntsville.
Top Industries Nearby
Major Employers
- Hyundai
- Kia
- Mercedes-Benz
- Boeing
- Southern Company
- Blue Origin
Atlanta, 1 hour 45 minutes
Who thrives here
Who Thrives Here
Auburn admits 46.9% of applicants into a 28,953-student undergraduate body, and its culture is the most legible thing about it: about 30% of men and 53% of women join Greek life, and only 17% of undergraduates live on campus, so the town of Auburn is effectively the housing system. A student who wants none of that will find the social centre of gravity hard to escape. Academically it runs at real scale — the student-faculty ratio is 21 to 1 and 33.3% of classes have fewer than 20 students — and outcomes are solid rather than exceptional: 61.7% finish in four years, 81.9% in six, with 94.2% of first-years returning. The money question is sharper for non-residents. In-state tuition and fees are $13,318 against $36,022 out of state, Auburn meets 51.0% of demonstrated need, and graduates carry $34,342 in average debt.