Michigan State University

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

Michigan State University operates as a public institution located in East Lansing, Michigan (city: small), with a total reported enrollment of 40,922 students of which 42,929 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. Michigan State University is categorized as “15” 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 84.8%, drawn from the most recent IPEDS Fall enrollment survey, with an average SAT of 1,269 and an ACT midpoint of 26. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $19,680, with published in-state tuition of $16,458 and a Pell grant recipient share of 20.1%. Median federal student debt at graduation is $23,250, drawn from the U.S. Treasury-matched College Scorecard file.

Outcomes reveal whether the investment pays back. The 4-year completion rate is 81.4%, and the first-year retention rate is 90.0%. Graduates earn a median of $67,253 ten years after enrolling, compared with $55,084 six years post-enrollment. Within three years of entering repayment, 1161300.0% of borrowers are making progress on their federal loans, and 75.8% 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.