East Central University
Public College in Ada, OK. Six-year graduation rate 34%. Median 10-year earnings $44,962.
Students who entered East Central University land at a median of $44,962 a decade later, close to what most four-year schools deliver. Completion is the weak point: 34% graduate within six years. Median debt at graduation is $17,671, roughly typical for an undergraduate degree.
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
- ! Graduation rate 34% — below national average
Admissions
At 58%, the acceptance rate makes East Central University a school worth applying to with alternatives in hand. 2,148 students applied in the most recent cycle — a mid-sized pool drawn mostly from the surrounding region. Yield is high — 42% of admitted students go on to enroll, well above the typical rate. Read the score bands below narrowly: only 3% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score, and test-optional applicants are not represented in them.
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 | 460–560 | 17 (3%) |
| SAT Math | 440–560 | |
| ACT Composite | 17–24 | 315 (60%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at East Central University →Academics
Only 34% finish within six years, so roughly two in three students leave without the credential. 61% of full-time first-years come back for year two, so about two in five are gone before sophomore year. The distance between those two figures is the part worth noticing — students return for a second year at a much higher rate than they graduate, so attrition here is spread across the middle years rather than concentrated in the first. 21% transfer out. IPEDS does not follow them, so whether they finished elsewhere is not recorded either way. Part-time students fare worse, returning at 10% — relevant if you plan to work while enrolled.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 2,157 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
At $8,565 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 ($8,151 versus $10,702), meaning aid is not strongly need-weighted. About 84% get grants averaging $8,749, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. About 38% 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.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 360 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 | $8,151 |
| $30–48k | $6,402 |
| $48–75k | $7,155 |
| $75–110k | $12,154 |
| $110k+ | $10,702 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 824 of these 2,157 students, totalling $6,149,826 — an average of $7,463 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Pontotoc 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)