Bowie State University

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

Bowie State University operates as a public institution located in Bowie, Maryland (suburb: large), with a total reported enrollment of 5,043 students of which 5,886 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. Bowie State University is categorized as “18” 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 72.4%, drawn from the most recent IPEDS Fall enrollment survey and an ACT midpoint of 19. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $19,298, with published in-state tuition of $9,218 and a Pell grant recipient share of 44.4%. Median federal student debt at graduation is $22,985, drawn from the U.S. Treasury-matched College Scorecard file.

Outcomes reveal whether the investment pays back. The 4-year completion rate is 38.2%, and the first-year retention rate is 68.2%. Graduates earn a median of $54,537 ten years after enrolling, compared with $43,877 six years post-enrollment. Within three years of entering repayment, 235200.0% of borrowers are making progress on their federal loans, and 60.8% 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.