Northwest Nazarene University
Private College in Nampa, ID. Six-year graduation rate 71%. Median 10-year earnings $51,719.
Ten years after entry, the median Northwest Nazarene University student earns $51,719 — a solidly middle-of-the-pack result for an undergraduate institution. Completion is a strength: 71% of students finish within six years. Graduates carry a median of $23,750 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
65% of applicants get in, so the odds favor most reasonably prepared students. 3,247 students applied in the most recent cycle — a mid-sized pool drawn mostly from the surrounding region. Only 10% of admitted students enroll — the great majority of admits go elsewhere or nowhere. The score bands below rest on the 44% of enrolled first-years who submitted an SAT score — a self-selected group, and not a cutoff.
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 | 515–630 | 91 (44%) |
| SAT Math | 490–610 | |
| ACT Composite | 22–27 | 15 (7%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Northwest Nazarene University →Academics
A 71% six-year graduation rate is the strongest academic signal on this page. Retention of 77% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. At 14:1, students get materially more instructor contact than at a typical public university. Judge these figures against other institutions of the same type — sector explains more of the variation in completion than any single campus factor. At 1,156 undergraduates, expect a small, closely-held student body.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,137 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Net price averages $30,178 annually, so cost is the first thing to weigh here. The gap between the $0–30k and $110k+ bands is narrow ($28,732 versus $34,800), meaning aid is not strongly need-weighted. Grant aid is widespread — 95% of students receive it, averaging $22,889. 62% of students borrow federally, so debt is the norm rather than the exception.
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 · 242 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 | $28,732 |
| $30–48k | $30,626 |
| $48–75k | $35,166 |
| $75–110k | $33,413 |
| $110k+ | $34,800 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 709 of these 1,137 students, totalling $7,720,040 — an average of $10,889 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Canyon 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)