University of
Nebraska at Kearney
Public College in Kearney, NE. Six-year graduation rate 57%. Median 10-year earnings $50,105.
Students who entered University of Nebraska at Kearney land at a median of $50,105 a decade later, close to what most four-year schools deliver. 57% finish within six years — respectable, though a meaningful share still leave without a credential. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $19,500, 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
Admissions
Admission is not the constraint here: 89% of applicants are accepted. The applicant pool runs to 5,283, typical for a school of this reach. A 19% yield rate is low: the admitted pool is much larger than the entering class. Read the score bands below narrowly: only 2% 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 | 495–575 | 19 (2%) |
| SAT Math | 410–550 | |
| ACT Composite | 19–26 | 718 (82%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at University of Nebraska at Kearney →Academics
Completion is middling: 57% finish inside six years. First-year retention of 80% shows the cohort holds together through the hardest year. Retention and graduation track closely, so most of the attrition shows up in the first year rather than after it. A 23% 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. The part-time picture is harder: 17% return, against 80% full-time.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 4,130 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price after grant aid is $16,287 a year — mid-range for a four-year institution. The gap between the $0–30k and $110k+ bands is narrow ($13,066 versus $20,664), meaning aid is not strongly need-weighted. About 83% get grants averaging $11,194, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. Federal borrowing reaches 36% 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 · 898 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 | $13,066 |
| $30–48k | $13,350 |
| $48–75k | $14,547 |
| $75–110k | $16,703 |
| $110k+ | $20,664 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 1,495 of these 4,130 students, totalling $8,906,258 — an average of $5,957 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Buffalo 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)