Otterbein University
Private College in Westerville, OH. Six-year graduation rate 68%. Median 10-year earnings $53,313.
The median ten-year earnings figure of $53,313 sits near the national middle rather than at either extreme. 68% graduate within six years, so most students who start here finish here. Graduates carry a median of $26,000 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
Otterbein University accepts 85% of applicants, which makes it accessible to most students who meet the baseline requirements. The applicant pool runs to 3,923, typical for a school of this reach. Only 18% of admitted students enroll — the great majority of admits go elsewhere or nowhere. Read the score bands below narrowly: only 25% of enrolled first-years submitted an ACT 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 | — | — |
| SAT Math | — | |
| ACT Composite | 22–28 | 149 (25%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Otterbein University →Academics
68% of students finish within six years, putting completion well above the national norm. First-year retention of 80% shows the cohort holds together through the hardest year. Retention and completion are close, which places the gap between entering and finishing almost entirely in year one. A 19% 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. At 12:1, 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 2,056 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Net price lands at $20,457 a year on average, neither cheap nor punishing. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $12,458 while those at $110k+ pay $24,620. Grant aid is widespread — 98% of students receive it, averaging $24,048. Most students borrow — 55% 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 · 519 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 | $12,458 |
| $30–48k | $12,659 |
| $48–75k | $16,478 |
| $75–110k | $23,061 |
| $110k+ | $24,620 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 1,126 of these 2,056 students, totalling $7,397,734 — an average of $6,570 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
Veterans & GI Bill
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)