Saint Cloud
State University
Public College in Saint Cloud, MN. Six-year graduation rate 40%. Median 10-year earnings $55,813.
Students who entered Saint Cloud State University land at a median of $55,813 a decade later, close to what most four-year schools deliver. Six-year completion sits at 40%, near the national average for undergraduate institutions. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $21,058, 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
Admission is not the constraint here: 95% of applicants are accepted. 5,976 applications came in, enough to make the rates below reasonably stable year to year. Only 17% of admitted students enroll — the great majority of admits go elsewhere or nowhere. 1% 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 | 510–615 | 13 (1%) |
| SAT Math | 515–645 | |
| ACT Composite | 17–25 | 210 (22%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Saint Cloud State University →Academics
Six-year completion sits at 40%, meaning about three in five students who enroll leave without finishing. 71% of full-time first-years come back for year two, so about one in three are gone before sophomore year. That gap between coming back and finishing is where this school loses people — after the first year, not during it. With 34% transferring out, this functions substantially as a stepping stone. Part-time students fare worse, returning at 54% — relevant if you plan to work while enrolled.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 5,181 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
At $14,735 a year on average after grant aid, cost is low here relative to most undergraduate institutions. Net price swings hard on family income here, from $8,909 at the $0–30k band to $18,989 at $110k+. About 71% get grants averaging $7,202, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. About 38% borrow federally, roughly the national pattern.
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 · 845 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 | $8,909 |
| $30–48k | $9,871 |
| $48–75k | $12,034 |
| $75–110k | $14,781 |
| $110k+ | $18,989 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 1,980 of these 5,181 students, totalling $13,388,197 — an average of $6,762 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Stearns 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)