What You'll Actually Pay
Price after grants
$16,523 to $28,588 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: $35,537 a year in-state. Average need-based aid package: $23,041.Aid and debt
52.8%
receive need-based grants
$45,196
average debt at graduation
4,150
students got merit aid
about 38% of undergraduates
$7,284
average merit award
Getting In
A note for out-of-state applicants
University of New Hampshire is subject to a state law limiting out-of-state undergraduate enrollment relative to the school's official capacity — a figure USNH Board of Trustees does not make public. That makes this rule real but hard to gauge: we can't tell you how much it actually shapes an out-of-state applicant's odds, only that the rule exists and applies here.
Per RSA 187-A:10.
Key dates
Test scores
SAT, middle 50% of those who submitted: 1120–1310 · 19% of the class submitted
ACT, middle 50% of those who submitted: 26–30 · 1% of the class submitted
What they value
- Very important
- Course rigor (AP/IB)
- GPA
- Important
- Recommendations
- Considered
- Class rank
- SAT/ACT scores
- Personal essay
- Extracurriculars
- Special talent
- Character
- First-gen status
- Volunteer work
- Work experience
- Not considered
- Legacy status
- Where you're from
- In-state residency
- Demonstrated interest
What this means for you
New Hampshire rates course rigor as Very Important, and your recommendations as Important.
MoreLess
Rigor means AP, IB, and dual enrollment carry real weight — make sure your mix of AP or IB courses is strong. Recommendations matter here too — a recommender who knows you well helps.
New Hampshire doesn't consider demonstrated interest in admissions at all — visits and follow-up emails won't move the needle here.
Source: Common Data Set 2025–26, Section C7 (admissions factors)
New Hampshire just showed you what it values in an application. Use that to write a Why-New Hampshire essay that's actually about you — not a template.
Get sourced starting points for your essayStudent Life
40% of New Hampshire classes have fewer than 20 students.
40%
under 20 students
49.5%
20 to 49
10.5%
50 or more
Every class section counts, labs and seminars included; first-year courses tend to be larger. New Hampshire CDS 2025–26, I-3.
17:1
student:faculty ratio
Campus life
53.3%
first-years from out of state
58.82%
live on campus
18.97%
of men in fraternities
16.28%
of women in sororities
Who attends
- White83.9%
- Hispanic4.8%
- Unknown / other3.7%
- Multiracial2.9%
- Asian2.6%
- Black1%
Enrolled undergraduates; international students are counted separately and not included. New Hampshire CDS 2025–26, B2.
Popular majors
Will They Graduate?
68.1% of New Hampshire students graduate in 4 years.
68.1%
finish in 4 years
Entered fall 2019
77%
finish in 6 years
Entered fall 2019
88%
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
71.1% finish in 6 years, against 77% of all students.
A 5.9-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 Durham.
Durham is a small town on New Hampshire's Seacoast, about ten miles from Portsmouth and an hour north of Boston, with Amtrak's Downeaster stopping on campus.
MoreLess
The White Mountains are two hours north.
The City
College town
Durham, NH
Best For
Notable alumni
Notable Alumni
John Irving
Novelist and Academy Award-winning screenwriter of The Cider House Rules, who took his bachelor's degree at New Hampshire
Carlton Fisk
Baseball Hall of Fame catcher, who came to New Hampshire on a basketball scholarship and played both sports for the Wildcats
Alumni selected for name recognition and range of fields. Not from the Common Data Set.
Traditions
Traditions
Homecoming bonfire
Built and burned on campus the night before the homecoming game, and the largest single gathering of the year.
Wildcat hockey at the Whittemore Center
Men's ice hockey is the sport that fills the building here rather than football — a New England inversion of the usual state-flagship pattern.
Marine research at Jackson Estuarine Laboratory
UNH is a land-grant, sea-grant and space-grant institution, and its Great Bay marine facilities are a genuine draw for its science students.
Weekend escapes from Durham
Weekend Escapes
Within driving distance from Durham
Boston
1 hourThe nearest major city and the practical international airport; the Downeaster train runs there from campus.
Portsmouth
15 minutesThe Seacoast's restaurant and music town, and the standard night out.
The White Mountains
2 hoursHiking and skiing in the Presidential Range, north of campus.
Getting there and game days
Getting There & Game Days
Nearest airport
Manchester-Boston Regional (MHT)
45 minutes from campus
For international flights: Boston Logan International (BOS) — about 1 hour by road.
Pro sports nearby
- Boston Red Sox MLB
- New England Patriots NFL
- Boston Bruins NHL
- Boston Celtics NBA
Internships and jobs nearby
Career Proximity
New Hampshire's pipeline runs south into the Boston corridor for technology and biotech, with defence and shipbuilding work at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard fifteen minutes from campus.
Top Industries Nearby
Major Employers
- Portsmouth Naval Shipyard
- BAE Systems
- Fidelity Investments
- Dartmouth Health
Boston, 1 hour
Who thrives here
Who Thrives Here
New Hampshire admits 89.1% of applicants, which makes it a realistic target for students whose numbers rule out more selective public universities. It is also unusual among state flagships in drawing most of its entering class from elsewhere: 53.3% of first-years come from out of state against 45.2% from New Hampshire, and out-of-state tuition and fees run $41,864 against $20,172 in state. That combination produces the figure a family most needs to see before applying — average debt at graduation of $45,196, because the university meets 67.88% of demonstrated need rather than all of it. What the money buys is a genuinely residential campus rather than a commuter one: 58.82% of undergraduates live on campus, Greek life takes in 18.97% of men and 16.28% of women, classes run 17 to 1 with 40.0% of sections under 20, and 88.0% of first-years return, with 68.1% finishing in four years and 77.0% in six.