Central State University
Public College in Wilberforce, OH. Six-year graduation rate 23%. Median 10-year earnings $33,267.
Students who entered Central State University reach a median of $33,267 a decade later, a figure that trails the typical four-year outcome. The six-year graduation rate is 23% — low enough that finishing cannot be treated as the default outcome. Debt is the pressure point: a median of $30,739 at graduation. On economic mobility, 2.1% of students travel from the bottom income quintile to the top.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Debt-to-income ratio 0.92 — elevated (above 0.60)
- ! Graduation rate 23% — below national average
Admissions
Admission is not the constraint here: 99% of applicants are accepted. 2,810 applications came in, enough to make the rates below reasonably stable year to year. A 19% yield rate is low: the admitted pool is much larger than the entering 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 | — | — |
| SAT Math | — | |
| ACT Composite | — | — |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Central State University →Academics
Completion is the problem here: 23% graduate within six years. Just 56% of first-years come back — most of the completion gap opens in year one. Retention runs well ahead of completion, which means students are not leaving immediately; they are leaving somewhere between the second year and the finish line. 34% of students transfer out, which reframes what the graduation rate above is measuring. The part-time picture is harder: 6% return, against 56% full-time.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 3,412 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
At $11,398 a year on average after grant aid, cost is low here relative to most undergraduate institutions. The gap between the $0–30k and $110k+ bands is narrow ($19,581 versus $10,187), meaning aid is not strongly need-weighted. Most students get help: 92% receive grants worth $7,074 on average. Federal borrowing reaches 42% of students.
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.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 524 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 | $19,581 |
| $30–48k | $7,161 |
| $48–75k | $8,773 |
| $75–110k | $10,343 |
| $110k+ | $10,187 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 1,428 of these 3,412 students, totalling $9,471,087 — an average of $6,632 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Greene County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
Heightened Cash Monitoring (Compliance Audit Late or Missing); School placed on Heightened Cash Monitoring
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)