Alcorn State University

What the IPEDS & College Scorecard Data Shows for Alcorn State University

Alcorn State University operates as a public institution located in Alcorn State, Mississippi (rural: remote), with a total reported enrollment of 2,363 students of which 2,731 are undergraduates. Institution-level records in the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) classify each school by Carnegie category, ownership sector, and urban/rural locale, which is how this profile’s peer group and cost cohort are determined. Alcorn State University is categorized as “20” under the Carnegie classification system, a meaningful signal when comparing like-to-like institutions.

Selectivity and financial signals give context to what applicants can expect. The reported admission rate is 45.3%, drawn from the most recent IPEDS Fall enrollment survey, with an average SAT of 904 and an ACT midpoint of 22. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $13,265, with published in-state tuition of $8,785 and a Pell grant recipient share of 69.8%. Median federal student debt at graduation is $27,000, drawn from the U.S. Treasury-matched College Scorecard file.

Outcomes reveal whether the investment pays back. The 4-year completion rate is 51.2%, and the first-year retention rate is 76.6%. Graduates earn a median of $36,421 ten years after enrolling, compared with $27,752 six years post-enrollment. Within three years of entering repayment, 212100.0% of borrowers are making progress on their federal loans, and 43.6% of graduates earn above the high-school threshold. Treating these numbers as a single snapshot alongside the cost cohort is the standard approach for evaluating ROI under the College Scorecard methodology.