Northeastern State University
Public College in Tahlequah, OK. Six-year graduation rate 35%. Median 10-year earnings $45,379.
Students who entered Northeastern State University land at a median of $45,379 a decade later, close to what most four-year schools deliver. Completion is the weak point: 35% graduate within six years. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $17,367, neither a bargain nor a burden. Mobility is where this school separates itself: 2.2% of students move from the bottom income quintile to the top.
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
Northeastern State University admits 100% of applicants — effectively open admission, so the application is a formality rather than a hurdle. The applicant pool runs to 1,727, typical for a school of this reach. 39% of those admitted enroll, which is unremarkable in either direction. 4% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT 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 | 438–593 | 24 (4%) |
| SAT Math | 428–543 | |
| ACT Composite | 18–23 | 492 (73%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Northeastern State University →Academics
Only 35% finish within six years, so roughly two in three students leave without the credential. Retention of 60% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. Retention and completion are close, which places the gap between entering and finishing almost entirely in year one. 20% transfer out. IPEDS does not follow them, so whether they finished elsewhere is not recorded either way. The part-time picture is harder: 22% return, against 60% full-time.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 4,636 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
At $12,410 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 $10,598 while those at $110k+ pay $19,511. 72% of students receive grant aid, averaging $8,780 — common but not automatic. Federal borrowing reaches 39% 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 · 643 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 | $10,598 |
| $30–48k | $9,827 |
| $48–75k | $12,612 |
| $75–110k | $18,188 |
| $110k+ | $19,511 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 1,793 of these 4,636 students, totalling $12,502,108 — an average of $6,973 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Cherokee 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)