Montana State University

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

Montana State University operates as a public institution located in Bozeman, Montana (city: small), with a total reported enrollment of 14,451 students of which 16,436 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. Montana 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 82.1%, drawn from the most recent IPEDS Fall enrollment survey, with an average SAT of 1,183 and an ACT midpoint of 24. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $22,499, with published in-state tuition of $8,460 and a Pell grant recipient share of 16.4%. Median federal student debt at graduation is $22,500, drawn from the U.S. Treasury-matched College Scorecard file.

Outcomes reveal whether the investment pays back. The 4-year completion rate is 57.2%, and the first-year retention rate is 78.5%. Graduates earn a median of $53,263 ten years after enrolling, compared with $44,757 six years post-enrollment. Within three years of entering repayment, 517200.0% of borrowers are making progress on their federal loans, and 65.4% 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.