Buena Vista University

What the IPEDS & College Scorecard Data Shows for Buena Vista University

Buena Vista University operates as a private nonprofit institution located in Storm Lake, Iowa (town: remote), with a total reported enrollment of 1,366 students of which 1,788 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. Buena Vista University is categorized as “19” 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 77.6%, drawn from the most recent IPEDS Fall enrollment survey, with an average SAT of 1,120 and an ACT midpoint of 22. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $18,846, with published in-state tuition of $41,798 and a Pell grant recipient share of 43.8%. Median federal student debt at graduation is $25,000, drawn from the U.S. Treasury-matched College Scorecard file.

Outcomes reveal whether the investment pays back. The 4-year completion rate is 54.5%, and the first-year retention rate is 76.0%. Graduates earn a median of $49,156 ten years after enrolling, compared with $43,572 six years post-enrollment. Within three years of entering repayment, 213800.0% of borrowers are making progress on their federal loans, and 70.9% 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.