Ottawa University-Ottawa
Private College in Ottawa, KS. Six-year graduation rate 28%. Median 10-year earnings $55,552.
Ten years after entry, the median Ottawa University-Ottawa student earns $55,552 — a solidly middle-of-the-pack result for an undergraduate institution. Completion is the weak point: 28% graduate within six years. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $21,500, 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
- ! Graduation rate 28% — below national average
Admissions
An acceptance rate of 83% puts Ottawa University-Ottawa on the accessible end — a realistic target for a broad range of applicants. The applicant pool runs to 2,611, typical for a school of this reach. Yield is low at 14%, so most admitted students do not end up enrolling. Read the score bands below narrowly: only 4% 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 | 420–500 | 11 (4%) |
| SAT Math | 330–500 | |
| ACT Composite | 16–22 | 62 (20%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Ottawa University-Ottawa →Academics
A six-year graduation rate of 28% means finishing is closer to the exception than the rule. Just 58% of first-years come back — most of the completion gap opens in year one. Retention runs well ahead of completion, which means students are not leaving immediately; they are leaving somewhere between the second year and the finish line. The 12:1 student-faculty ratio is small enough that seminar-sized classes are the norm. Judge these figures against other institutions of the same type — sector explains more of the variation in completion than any single campus factor.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 936 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay $28,185 a year on average after aid, a premium price that the earnings data has to justify. Net price swings hard on family income here, from $22,449 at the $0–30k band to $30,771 at $110k+. Grant aid is widespread — 100% of students receive it, averaging $25,851. 76% 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 · 283 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 | $22,449 |
| $30–48k | $22,912 |
| $48–75k | $25,525 |
| $75–110k | $30,199 |
| $110k+ | $30,771 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 707 of these 936 students, totalling $4,494,687 — an average of $6,357 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Franklin County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026