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Public Research University

Morgan State University

Public Research University in Baltimore, MD. Six-year graduation rate 41%. Median 10-year earnings $50,698.

Verdict Mixed outcomes
Morgan State University · Campus
Median earnings · 10 yr
$50,698
Median debt at grad
$27,250
Graduation rate
40.9%
Federal loan default
0%

Ten years after entry, the median Morgan State University student earns $50,698 — a solidly middle-of-the-pack result for an undergraduate institution. Six-year completion sits at 41%, near the national average for undergraduate institutions. Graduates leave owing a median of $27,250 — a substantial load to service on these earnings.

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
82%
Applicants
23,366
Yield rate
12.4%

Morgan State University accepts 82% of applicants, which makes it accessible to most students who meet the baseline requirements. The applicant pool is large — 23,366 in the most recent cycle — so the published rate reflects genuine competition rather than a small-sample quirk. Only 12% of admitted students enroll — the great majority of admits go elsewhere or nowhere. Read the score bands below narrowly: only 22% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score, and test-optional applicants are not represented in them.

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 400–520 512 (22%)
SAT Math 440–550
ACT Composite 16–21 66 (3%)

IPEDS Admissions · 2024

Apply at Morgan State University →

Academics

Full-time retention
73%
Transfer-out rate
20%
Student:faculty
18:1

Six-year completion sits at 41%, meaning about three in five students who enroll leave without finishing. Retention of 73% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. 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. Transfer-out runs to 20% — common enough at this school that the completion rate is measuring a smaller group than the entering class. The student-faculty ratio is 18:1 — typical, which in practice means large lectures early and smaller classes in the major.

Financial Aid

Average net price
$15,476
Full-time, first-time undergraduates paying the in-state rate who were awarded grant or scholarship aid
% receiving grants
89%
degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
% receiving federal loans
65%
degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 8,293 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates

Average net price after grant aid is $15,476 a year — mid-range for a four-year institution. Net price swings hard on family income here, from $9,585 at the $0–30k band to $21,323 at $110k+. 89% of students get grant aid averaging $9,861, so the published price is a poor guide to what most pay. Most students borrow — 65% 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
$10,827

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 2,273 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 $9,585
$30–48k $13,420
$48–75k $16,147
$75–110k $19,981
$110k+ $21,323

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24

Federal student loans went to 5,428 of these 8,293 students, totalling $35,065,537 — an average of $6,460 each.

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24

Local housing costs

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

Studio
$1,362/mo
1 bedroom
$1,511/mo
2 bedroom (whole unit)
$1,857/mo

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

Veterans & GI Bill

GI Bill students
429
Yellow Ribbon
Yes
Principles of Excellence
Yes

VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)

Compare Morgan State University with peer institutions

How we evaluate Morgan 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 →