Delta State University
Public College in Cleveland, MS. Six-year graduation rate 48%. Median 10-year earnings $41,991.
Students who entered Delta State University reach a median of $41,991 a decade later, a figure that trails the typical four-year outcome. Six-year completion sits at 48%, near the national average for undergraduate institutions. Graduates carry a median of $20,390 in debt — in line with the national norm. On economic mobility, 2.2% 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
Admissions
Admission is not the constraint here: 100% of applicants are accepted. Only 1,231 students applied, so treat these rates as directional — small pools swing sharply between cycles. A 18% yield rate is low: the admitted pool is much larger than the entering class. The score bands below rest on the 8% of enrolled first-years who submitted an SAT score — a self-selected group, and not a cutoff.
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 | 475–590 | 18 (8%) |
| SAT Math | 450–620 | |
| ACT Composite | 17–23 | 184 (85%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Delta State University →Academics
Six-year completion sits at 48%, meaning about one in two students who enroll leave without finishing. 67% of full-time first-years come back for year two, so about one in three are gone before sophomore year. Retention and graduation track closely, so most of the attrition shows up in the first year rather than after it. The part-time picture is harder: 27% return, against 67% full-time. The 12:1 student-faculty ratio is small enough that seminar-sized classes are the norm.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,613 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $14,021 annually, well below typical undergraduate net price. Income makes less difference than usual: $12,223 at $0–30k, $16,950 at $110k+. 88% of students get grant aid averaging $9,370, so the published price is a poor guide to what most pay. 54% of students take federal loans, a middling borrowing rate.
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 · 207 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 | $12,223 |
| $30–48k | $10,615 |
| $48–75k | $10,625 |
| $75–110k | $17,170 |
| $110k+ | $16,950 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 870 of these 1,613 students, totalling $6,420,885 — an average of $7,380 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Bolivar County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)