undergradly.
Private College

Ashland University

Private College in Ashland, OH. Six-year graduation rate 61%. Median 10-year earnings $52,928.

Verdict Mixed outcomes
Ashland University · Campus
Median earnings · 10 yr
$52,928
Median debt at grad
$25,000
Mobility score
0.6
% bottom→top quintile
Graduation rate
60.6%
Federal loan default
0%

Ten years after entry, the median Ashland University student earns $52,928 — a solidly middle-of-the-pack result for an undergraduate institution. Six-year completion sits at 61%, near the national average for undergraduate institutions. Graduates carry a median of $25,000 in debt — in line with the national norm.

Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.

Green Flags
  • 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Red Flags
  • ! Mobility score 0.6 — limited economic uplift documented

Admissions

Acceptance rate
76%
Applicants
3,814
Yield rate
15.9%

76% of applicants get in, so the odds favor most reasonably prepared students. The applicant pool runs to 3,814, typical for a school of this reach. Yield is low at 16%, so most admitted students do not end up enrolling. 7% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score. The bands below describe the middle half of that group, not of the class.

Test score bands (middle 50% of submitters)

These bands describe the enrolled first-years who submitted a score, not the entering class. Where most students apply test-optional the submitters are a self-selected, higher-scoring group.

Test 25th–75th percentile Submitted
SAT Evidence-Based Reading 505–610 32 (7%)
SAT Math 530–598
ACT Composite 20–25 225 (48%)

IPEDS Admissions · 2024

Apply at Ashland University →

Academics

Full-time retention
77%
Transfer-out rate
26%
Student:faculty
14:1

Six-year completion sits at 61%, meaning about two in five students who enroll leave without finishing. Retention of 77% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. Retention and completion are close, which places the gap between entering and finishing almost entirely in year one. Transfer-out runs to 26% — common enough at this school that the completion rate is measuring a smaller group than the entering class. A 14:1 ratio points to small classes and accessible faculty.

Financial Aid

Average net price
$22,610
Full-time, first-time undergraduates paying the in-state rate who were awarded grant or scholarship aid
% receiving grants
92%
degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
% receiving federal loans
50%
degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 2,321 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates

Net price lands at $22,610 a year on average, neither cheap nor punishing. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $16,489 while those at $110k+ pay $26,507. 92% of students get grant aid averaging $15,608, so the published price is a poor guide to what most pay. About 50% borrow federally, roughly the national pattern.

Entering first-year students

A different, smaller group than the rates above: full-time students in their first year of college anywhere. The grant series here also excludes the "other sources" counted in the all-undergraduate figure, so the two are not comparable.

% receiving grants
100%
Average grant
$20,835

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 513 students

Net price by family income

The same students as the headline above, limited to those who received Title IV federal aid — a narrower group, with a lower overall average. IPEDS publishes no combined figure across these bands, so they should not be averaged into one.

Family income band Average net price
$0–30k $16,489
$30–48k $17,893
$48–75k $19,052
$75–110k $24,229
$110k+ $26,507

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24

Federal student loans went to 1,161 of these 2,321 students, totalling $7,773,332 — an average of $6,695 each.

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24

Local housing costs

Typical rents near campus (Ashland County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.

Studio
$677/mo
1 bedroom
$779/mo
2 bedroom (whole unit)
$973/mo

HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026

Veterans & GI Bill

GI Bill students
108
Yellow Ribbon
Yes
Principles of Excellence
Yes

VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)

Compare Ashland University with peer institutions

How we evaluate Ashland University

IPEDS
US Department of Education
College Scorecard
Post-grad earnings
Census PSEO
Earnings by major
Opportunity Insights
Mobility by institution
Read our full methodology →