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Private College

University of Providence

Private College in Great Falls, MT. Six-year graduation rate 28%. Median 10-year earnings $48,296.

Verdict Mixed outcomes
University of Providence · Campus
Median earnings · 10 yr
$48,296
Median debt at grad
$18,750
Graduation rate
28.2%
Federal loan default
0%

Students who entered University of Providence land at a median of $48,296 a decade later, close to what most four-year schools deliver. Completion is the weak point: 28% graduate within six years. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $18,750, 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.

Green Flags
  • 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Red Flags
  • ! Graduation rate 28% — below national average

Admissions

Acceptance rate
50%
Applicants
352
Yield rate
50.3%

University of Providence admits 50% of applicants and is genuinely selective — roughly one in two applicants are turned away. The applicant pool is small at 352, which makes year-over-year comparisons unreliable. 50% of admitted students actually enroll, which is a high yield by national standards. Read the score bands below narrowly: only 17% 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 4 (5%)
SAT Math
ACT Composite 15–23 15 (17%)

IPEDS Admissions · 2024

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Academics

Full-time retention
72%
Transfer-out rate
34%
Student:faculty
9:1

Only 28% finish within six years, so roughly three in four students leave without the credential. 72% of full-time first-years come back for year two, so about one in four 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. The 9:1 student-faculty ratio is small enough that seminar-sized classes are the norm.

Financial Aid

Average net price
$16,598
Full-time, first-time undergraduates paying the in-state rate who were awarded grant or scholarship aid
% receiving grants
80%
degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
% receiving federal loans
48%
degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 562 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates

Average net price after grant aid is $16,598 a year — mid-range for a four-year institution. Income makes less difference than usual: $14,257 at $0–30k, $20,676 at $110k+. About 80% get grants averaging $21,623, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. About 48% 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.

% receiving grants
100%
Average grant
$26,370

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 109 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 $14,257
$30–48k $11,616
$48–75k $16,802
$75–110k $22,545
$110k+ $20,676

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24

Federal student loans went to 271 of these 562 students, totalling $2,269,657 — an average of $8,375 each.

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24

Local housing costs

Typical rents near campus (Cascade County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.

Studio
$960/mo
1 bedroom
$979/mo
2 bedroom (whole unit)
$1,284/mo

HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026

Veterans & GI Bill

GI Bill students
49
Yellow Ribbon
Yes
Principles of Excellence
Yes

VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)

Compare University of Providence with peer institutions

How we evaluate University of Providence

IPEDS
US Department of Education
College Scorecard
Post-grad earnings
Census PSEO
Earnings by major
Opportunity Insights
Mobility by institution
Read our full methodology →