Indiana University-South Bend
Public College in South Bend, IN. Six-year graduation rate 40%. Median 10-year earnings $44,947.
Students who entered Indiana University-South Bend land at a median of $44,947 a decade later, close to what most four-year schools deliver. 40% finish within six years — respectable, though a meaningful share still leave without a credential. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $21,355, neither a bargain nor a burden.
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
84% of applicants get in, so the odds favor most reasonably prepared students. 2,815 students applied in the most recent cycle — a mid-sized pool drawn mostly from the surrounding region. About 39% of admitted students enroll, a yield in the normal range. The score bands below rest on the 29% 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 | 480–610 | 271 (29%) |
| SAT Math | 470–580 | |
| ACT Composite | 21–23 | 7 (1%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Indiana University-South Bend →Academics
40% graduate within six years — average, but that average still hides a large group who do not. 65% of full-time first-years come back for year two, so about one in three are gone before sophomore year. Retention and completion are close, which places the gap between entering and finishing almost entirely in year one. 19% transfer out. IPEDS does not follow them, so whether they finished elsewhere is not recorded either way. The part-time picture is harder: 47% return, against 65% full-time.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 3,807 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price is $9,003 a year after grant aid — low for a four-year institution, though your own figure depends on aid eligibility. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $4,637 while those at $110k+ pay $15,825. About 65% get grants averaging $7,911, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. Federal borrowing reaches 36% 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 · 810 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 | $4,637 |
| $30–48k | $4,926 |
| $48–75k | $8,195 |
| $75–110k | $13,968 |
| $110k+ | $15,825 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 1,366 of these 3,807 students, totalling $8,167,927 — an average of $5,979 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (St. Joseph 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)