Middle Tennessee
State University
Public Research University in Murfreesboro, TN. Six-year graduation rate 54%. Median 10-year earnings $48,541.
Students who entered Middle Tennessee State University land at a median of $48,541 a decade later, close to what most four-year schools deliver. 54% finish within six years — respectable, though a meaningful share still leave without a credential. Median debt at graduation is $20,000, roughly typical for an undergraduate degree.
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 Middle Tennessee State University on the accessible end — a realistic target for a broad range of applicants. 14,989 students applied, a pool deep enough to make the acceptance rate meaningful. 30% of those admitted enroll, which is unremarkable in either direction. The score bands below rest on the 6% 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 | 520–630 | 193 (6%) |
| SAT Math | 490–600 | |
| ACT Composite | 20–26 | 2,939 (93%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Middle Tennessee State University →Academics
Completion is middling: 54% finish inside six years. 80% of full-time first-years return for a second year — a healthy figure. That gap between coming back and finishing is where this school loses people — after the first year, not during it. Transfer-out runs to 24% — common enough at this school that the completion rate is measuring a smaller group than the entering class. The part-time picture is harder: 60% return, against 80% full-time.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 16,100 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
At $13,859 a year on average after grant aid, cost is low here relative to most undergraduate institutions. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $9,289 while those at $110k+ pay $19,046. Grant aid reaches 77% of students at an average of $10,026. Federal borrowing reaches 31% 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 · 3,054 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 | $9,289 |
| $30–48k | $10,273 |
| $48–75k | $13,007 |
| $75–110k | $16,935 |
| $110k+ | $19,046 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 4,951 of these 16,100 students, totalling $30,342,280 — an average of $6,129 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Rutherford 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)