Ottawa University-Surprise
Private College in Surprise, AZ. Six-year graduation rate 18%. Median 10-year earnings $55,552.
Students who entered Ottawa University-Surprise land at a median of $55,552 a decade later, close to what most four-year schools deliver. The six-year graduation rate is 18% — low enough that finishing cannot be treated as the default outcome. Graduates carry a median of $21,500 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
- ! Graduation rate 18% — below national average
Admissions
78% of applicants get in, so the odds favor most reasonably prepared students. The applicant pool is small at 1,355, which makes year-over-year comparisons unreliable. Yield sits at 26% — the remainder of admitted students enroll elsewhere or not at all. 3% 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 | 440–590 | 8 (3%) |
| SAT Math | 400–570 | |
| ACT Composite | 16–21 | 21 (8%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Ottawa University-Surprise →Academics
Completion is the problem here: 18% graduate within six years. Just 50% of first-years come back — most of the completion gap opens in year one. That gap between coming back and finishing is where this school loses people — after the first year, not during it. The part-time picture is harder: 18% return, against 50% full-time. At 11:1, students get materially more instructor contact than at a typical public university.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 768 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay $34,037 a year on average after aid, a premium price that the earnings data has to justify. The gap between the $0–30k and $110k+ bands is narrow ($28,636 versus $35,922), meaning aid is not strongly need-weighted. Most students get help: 100% receive grants worth $21,429 on average. Most students borrow — 73% take federal loans to cover the gap.
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 · 200 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 | $28,636 |
| $30–48k | $30,096 |
| $48–75k | $31,252 |
| $75–110k | $35,696 |
| $110k+ | $35,922 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 563 of these 768 students, totalling $3,675,948 — an average of $6,529 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Maricopa 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)