Minnesota State University-Mankato
Public College in Mankato, MN. Six-year graduation rate 54%. Median 10-year earnings $56,922.
Ten years after entry, the median Minnesota State University-Mankato student earns $56,922 — a solidly middle-of-the-pack result for an undergraduate institution. The six-year graduation rate is 54%, meaning about one in two students who start do not finish. Graduates carry a median of $21,106 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
With an acceptance rate of 88%, Minnesota State University-Mankato takes nearly everyone who applies. The applicant pool runs to 9,098, typical for a school of this reach. Yield sits at 29% — the remainder of admitted students enroll elsewhere or not at all. 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 | 21–25 | 138 (6%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Minnesota State University-Mankato →Academics
Six-year completion sits at 54%, meaning about one in two students who enroll leave without finishing. First-year retention of 80% shows the cohort holds together through the hardest year. The distance between those two figures is the part worth noticing — students return for a second year at a much higher rate than they graduate, so attrition here is spread across the middle years rather than concentrated in the first. A 29% transfer-out rate accounts for part of that gap: those students left for another institution rather than dropping out, and the graduation rate above counts them as non-completers here.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 11,325 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price after grant aid is $18,861 a year — mid-range for a four-year institution. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $12,339 while those at $110k+ pay $22,798. 61% of students receive grant aid, averaging $6,611 — common but not automatic. About 46% 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 · 2,375 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 | $12,339 |
| $30–48k | $12,750 |
| $48–75k | $15,137 |
| $75–110k | $18,921 |
| $110k+ | $22,798 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 5,203 of these 11,325 students, totalling $33,865,750 — an average of $6,509 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Blue Earth 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)