Louisiana Tech University
Public Research University in Ruston, LA. Six-year graduation rate 65%. Median 10-year earnings $52,279.
The median ten-year earnings figure of $52,279 sits near the national middle rather than at either extreme. Six-year completion sits at 65%, near the national average for undergraduate institutions. Median debt at graduation is $22,135, roughly typical for an undergraduate degree. Mobility is where this school separates itself: 2.2% of students move 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: 86% of applicants are accepted. 8,491 applications came in, enough to make the rates below reasonably stable year to year. Yield sits at 33% — the remainder of admitted students enroll elsewhere or not at all. The score bands below rest on the 5% 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 | 550–630 | 117 (5%) |
| SAT Math | 550–680 | |
| ACT Composite | 21–27 | 1,956 (80%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Louisiana Tech University →Academics
Completion is middling: 65% finish inside six years. Retention is strong at 82%, and first-year attrition is where most degrees are lost. The two rates sit near each other: few students who return for a second year are missing from the six-year completion figure. The student-faculty ratio is 21:1 — typical, which in practice means large lectures early and smaller classes in the major. This is a public four-year university, so read every rate on this page against that peer group specifically.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 7,819 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $12,325 annually, well below typical undergraduate net price. Net price swings hard on family income here, from $7,676 at the $0–30k band to $16,207 at $110k+. 88% of students get grant aid averaging $11,956, so the published price is a poor guide to what most pay. 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 · 2,254 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 | $7,676 |
| $30–48k | $8,619 |
| $48–75k | $11,146 |
| $75–110k | $15,674 |
| $110k+ | $16,207 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 2,833 of these 7,819 students, totalling $16,943,491 — an average of $5,981 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Lincoln Parish) — 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)