Metropolitan State University
Public College in Saint Paul, MN. Six-year graduation rate 44%. Median 10-year earnings $64,705.
A decade after enrolling, the median Metropolitan State University student earns $64,705 — comfortably above what the typical bachelor's-granting institution returns. Six-year completion sits at 44%, near the national average for undergraduate institutions. Graduates carry a median of $17,100 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.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.26 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
Admission is not the constraint here: 99% of applicants are accepted. Only 698 students applied, so treat these rates as directional — small pools swing sharply between cycles. About 34% of admitted students enroll, a yield in the normal range. 6% of enrolled first-years submitted an ACT score. The bands below describe the middle half of that group, not of the class.
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 | 16–21 | 14 (6%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Metropolitan State University →Academics
Completion is middling: 44% finish inside six years. Retention of 68% 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. The 36% transfer-out rate is high enough that a large share of this school's students are really passing through. At 15:1, students get materially more instructor contact than at a typical public university.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 4,998 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price after grant aid is $16,615 a year — mid-range for a four-year institution. The gap between the $0–30k and $110k+ bands is narrow ($15,238 versus $21,905), meaning aid is not strongly need-weighted. About 66% get grants averaging $6,303, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. 33% 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 · 114 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 | $15,238 |
| $30–48k | $16,656 |
| $48–75k | $16,659 |
| $75–110k | $18,994 |
| $110k+ | $21,905 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 1,637 of these 4,998 students, totalling $12,329,980 — an average of $7,532 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Ramsey 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)