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Public College

Morehead State University

Public College in Morehead, KY. Six-year graduation rate 54%. Median 10-year earnings $43,197.

Verdict Mixed outcomes
Morehead State University · Campus
Median earnings · 10 yr
$43,197
Median debt at grad
$22,250
Mobility score
1.7
% bottom→top quintile
Graduation rate
54.3%
Federal loan default
0%

Students who entered Morehead State University land at a median of $43,197 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. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $22,250, 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.

Green Flags
  • 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Red Flags

Admissions

Acceptance rate
77%
Applicants
9,134
Yield rate
18.2%

77% of applicants get in, so the odds favor most reasonably prepared students. 9,134 applications came in, enough to make the rates below reasonably stable year to year. A 18% yield rate is low: the admitted pool is much larger than the entering 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 1 (1%)

IPEDS Admissions · 2024

Apply at Morehead State University →

Academics

Full-time retention
65%
Transfer-out rate
2%
Student:faculty
16:1

Six-year completion sits at 54%, meaning about one in two students who enroll leave without finishing. Retention of 65% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. A 16:1 ratio is unremarkable; expect a mix of lecture halls and seminars. Judge these figures against other institutions of the same type — sector explains more of the variation in completion than any single campus factor. The undergraduate population is 8,058 — big enough for a real range of programs, small enough to navigate.

Financial Aid

Average net price
$9,630
Full-time, first-time undergraduates paying the in-state rate who were awarded grant or scholarship aid
% receiving grants
92%
degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
% receiving federal loans
58%
degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 4,689 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates

Average net price is $9,630 a year after grant aid — low for a four-year institution, though your own figure depends on aid eligibility. Net price swings hard on family income here, from $7,150 at the $0–30k band to $15,164 at $110k+. Grant aid is widespread — 92% of students receive it, averaging $12,029. Most students borrow — 58% take federal loans to cover the gap.

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.

% receiving grants
97%
Average grant
$11,976

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 1,218 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 $7,150
$30–48k $7,057
$48–75k $8,874
$75–110k $13,341
$110k+ $15,164

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24

Federal student loans went to 2,699 of these 4,689 students, totalling $14,983,015 — an average of $5,551 each.

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24

Local housing costs

Typical rents near campus (Rowan County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.

Studio
$628/mo
1 bedroom
$735/mo
2 bedroom (whole unit)
$911/mo

HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026

Veterans & GI Bill

GI Bill students
197
Yellow Ribbon
Yes
Principles of Excellence
Yes

VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)

Compare Morehead State University with peer institutions

How we evaluate Morehead State University

IPEDS
US Department of Education
College Scorecard
Post-grad earnings
Census PSEO
Earnings by major
Opportunity Insights
Mobility by institution
Read our full methodology →