Kennesaw State University
Public Research University in Kennesaw, GA. Six-year graduation rate 52%. Median 10-year earnings $57,552.
Students who entered Kennesaw State University land at a median of $57,552 a decade later, close to what most four-year schools deliver. The six-year graduation rate is 52%, meaning about one in two students who start do not finish. Graduates carry a median of $23,833 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.
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
An acceptance rate of 69% puts Kennesaw State University on the accessible end — a realistic target for a broad range of applicants. 34,680 students applied, a pool deep enough to make the acceptance rate meaningful. About 38% of admitted students enroll, a yield in the normal range. Read the score bands below narrowly: only 39% 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 | 510–620 | 3,498 (39%) |
| SAT Math | 490–600 | |
| ACT Composite | 19–26 | 1,465 (16%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Kennesaw State University →Academics
Six-year completion sits at 52%, meaning about one in two students who enroll leave without finishing. First-year retention is 77% — the single largest point of attrition on this campus. Retention and graduation track closely, so most of the attrition shows up in the first year rather than after it. Transfer-out runs to 27% — common enough at this school that the completion rate is measuring a smaller group than the entering class. The part-time picture is harder: 62% return, against 77% full-time.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 39,510 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Net price lands at $15,636 a year on average, neither cheap nor punishing. The gap between the $0–30k and $110k+ bands is narrow ($12,235 versus $19,309), meaning aid is not strongly need-weighted. Grant aid reaches 75% of students at an average of $7,027. About 34% 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 · 7,731 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 | $12,235 |
| $30–48k | $12,661 |
| $48–75k | $15,185 |
| $75–110k | $18,263 |
| $110k+ | $19,309 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 13,286 of these 39,510 students, totalling $78,701,876 — an average of $5,924 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Cobb County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026