Lindenwood University
Private College in Saint Charles, MO. Six-year graduation rate 49%. Median 10-year earnings $53,278.
The median ten-year earnings figure of $53,278 sits near the national middle rather than at either extreme. Six-year completion sits at 49%, near the national average for undergraduate institutions. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $26,000, 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
- ! Mobility score 0.9 — limited economic uplift documented
Admissions
At 57%, the acceptance rate makes Lindenwood University a school worth applying to with alternatives in hand. 7,966 applications came in, enough to make the rates below reasonably stable year to year. Yield is low at 14%, so most admitted students do not end up enrolling. The score bands below rest on the 6% of enrolled first-years who submitted an ACT 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 | — | — |
| SAT Math | — | |
| ACT Composite | 22–28 | 37 (6%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Lindenwood University →Academics
Completion is middling: 49% finish inside six years. Retention of 66% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. Retention and graduation track closely, so most of the attrition shows up in the first year rather than after it. 28% transfer out. IPEDS does not follow them, so whether they finished elsewhere is not recorded either way. The part-time picture is harder: 26% return, against 66% full-time.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 4,748 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price after grant aid is $20,901 a year — mid-range for a four-year institution. Net price swings hard on family income here, from $15,678 at the $0–30k band to $23,821 at $110k+. Grant aid is widespread — 87% of students receive it, averaging $12,407. 51% 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 · 864 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 | $15,678 |
| $30–48k | $14,701 |
| $48–75k | $17,603 |
| $75–110k | $20,760 |
| $110k+ | $23,821 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 2,413 of these 4,748 students, totalling $18,408,224 — an average of $7,629 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (St. Charles 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)