Youngstown State University
Public College in Youngstown, OH. Six-year graduation rate 51%. Median 10-year earnings $41,544.
Median earnings ten years after entry come to $41,544, below what most undergraduate institutions return — the central fact to weigh against cost here. The six-year graduation rate is 51%, meaning about one in two students who start do not finish. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $24,000, 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
Youngstown State University accepts 84% of applicants, which makes it accessible to most students who meet the baseline requirements. The applicant pool runs to 7,368, typical for a school of this reach. 29% of those admitted enroll, which is unremarkable in either direction. The score bands below rest on the 10% of enrolled first-years who submitted an SAT score — a self-selected group, and not a cutoff.
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 | 510–620 | 135 (10%) |
| SAT Math | 500–610 | |
| ACT Composite | 19–25 | 688 (50%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Youngstown State University →Academics
Six-year completion sits at 51%, meaning about one in two students who enroll leave without finishing. 76% of full-time first-years come back for year two, so about one in four are gone before sophomore year. The distance between those two figures is the part worth noticing — students return for a second year at a much higher rate than they graduate, so attrition here is spread across the middle years rather than concentrated in the first. 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.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 7,362 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
At $12,757 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 $9,328 at the $0–30k band to $18,235 at $110k+. 84% of students receive grant aid, averaging $8,676 — common but not automatic. About 43% 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 · 1,571 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 | $9,328 |
| $30–48k | $9,421 |
| $48–75k | $13,369 |
| $75–110k | $16,249 |
| $110k+ | $18,235 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 3,134 of these 7,362 students, totalling $19,214,458 — an average of $6,131 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Mahoning 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)