Northern Kentucky University
Public College in Highland Heights, KY. Six-year graduation rate 54%. Median 10-year earnings $50,220.
The median ten-year earnings figure of $50,220 sits near the national middle rather than at either extreme. The six-year graduation rate is 54%, meaning about one in two students who start do not finish. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $23,000, 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.
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Mobility score 0.9 — limited economic uplift documented
Admissions
An acceptance rate of 68% puts Northern Kentucky University on the accessible end — a realistic target for a broad range of applicants. 6,058 applications came in, enough to make the rates below reasonably stable year to year. About 37% of admitted students enroll, a yield in the normal range. Read the score bands below narrowly: only 5% 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 | 473–590 | 74 (5%) |
| SAT Math | 480–560 | |
| ACT Composite | 18–25 | 1,098 (73%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Northern Kentucky University →Academics
Six-year completion sits at 54%, meaning about one in two students who enroll leave without finishing. Retention of 76% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. Retention and graduation track closely, so most of the attrition shows up in the first year rather than after it. Part-time students fare worse, returning at 49% — relevant if you plan to work while enrolled. At 19:1, class sizes land in the normal range for an undergraduate institution.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 8,047 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price is $9,211 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 $2,603 at the $0–30k band to $14,522 at $110k+. Most students get help: 85% receive grants worth $10,827 on average. Federal borrowing reaches 38% 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 · 1,245 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 | $2,603 |
| $30–48k | $3,630 |
| $48–75k | $6,761 |
| $75–110k | $12,679 |
| $110k+ | $14,522 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 3,051 of these 8,047 students, totalling $20,202,621 — an average of $6,622 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Campbell 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)