Saginaw Valley
State University
Public College in University Center, MI. Six-year graduation rate 48%. Median 10-year earnings $51,955.
The median ten-year earnings figure of $51,955 sits near the national middle rather than at either extreme. The six-year graduation rate is 48%, meaning about one in two students who start do not finish. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $25,000, 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
Admissions
72% of applicants get in, so the odds favor most reasonably prepared students. 11,816 students applied, a pool deep enough to make the acceptance rate meaningful. Only 16% of admitted students enroll — the great majority of admits go elsewhere or nowhere. Read the score bands below as the middle 50% of submitted scores, not a threshold to clear.
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 | 480–600 | 1,148 (84%) |
| SAT Math | 440–570 | |
| ACT Composite | 18–26 | 42 (3%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Saginaw Valley State University →Academics
Six-year completion sits at 48%, meaning about one in two students who enroll leave without finishing. First-year retention is 78% — the single largest point of attrition on this campus. That gap between coming back and finishing is where this school loses people — after the first year, not during it. The student-faculty ratio is 16:1 — typical, which in practice means large lectures early and smaller classes in the major. As a public four-year university, the relevant comparison is other four-year schools rather than the national average across all institutions.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 6,004 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $11,546 annually, well below typical undergraduate net price. The income table below is the number that matters — $9,844 at $0–30k versus $24,103 at $110k+. 86% of students get grant aid averaging $10,012, so the published price is a poor guide to what most pay. Federal borrowing reaches 52% of students.
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 · 1,284 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 | $9,844 |
| $30–48k | $19,711 |
| $48–75k | $20,053 |
| $75–110k | $18,879 |
| $110k+ | $24,103 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 3,116 of these 6,004 students, totalling $19,113,588 — an average of $6,134 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Saginaw 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)