Oregon State University
Public Research University in Corvallis, OR. Six-year graduation rate 70%. Median 10-year earnings $64,010.
Students who entered Oregon State University reach a median of $64,010 ten years later, which puts this school in the upper band of undergraduate earnings outcomes. The six-year graduation rate of 70% is well above average and the clearest sign this school holds onto its students. Median debt at graduation is $21,221, roughly typical for an undergraduate degree.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.33 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
An acceptance rate of 77% puts Oregon State University on the accessible end — a realistic target for a broad range of applicants. With 30,293 applications received, this is a school operating at national scale. Yield sits at 20% — the remainder of admitted students enroll elsewhere or not at all. The score bands below rest on the 10% 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 | 580–700 | 476 (10%) |
| SAT Math | 560–700 | |
| ACT Composite | 24–31 | 206 (4%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Oregon State University →Academics
Six-year completion runs to 70% — students who start here overwhelmingly finish here. First-year retention of 88% shows the cohort holds together through the hardest year. Retention and graduation track closely, so most of the attrition shows up in the first year rather than after it. A 16% transfer-out rate accounts for part of that gap: those students left for another institution rather than dropping out, and the graduation rate above counts them as non-completers here. The part-time picture is harder: 76% return, against 88% full-time.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 29,557 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Net price lands at $22,467 a year on average, neither cheap nor punishing. The income table below is the number that matters — $12,107 at $0–30k versus $27,459 at $110k+. Grant aid reaches 66% of students at an average of $9,671. 33% of students take federal loans, a middling borrowing rate.
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 · 4,093 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 | $12,107 |
| $30–48k | $13,036 |
| $48–75k | $15,729 |
| $75–110k | $20,262 |
| $110k+ | $27,459 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 9,770 of these 29,557 students, totalling $66,908,778 — an average of $6,848 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Benton 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)