Murray State University

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

Murray State University operates as a public institution located in Murray, Kentucky (town: distant), with a total reported enrollment of 6,688 students of which 9,121 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. Murray 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 85.7%, drawn from the most recent IPEDS Fall enrollment survey, with an average SAT of 1,133 and an ACT midpoint of 24. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $9,096, with published in-state tuition of $9,900 and a Pell grant recipient share of 33.3%. Median federal student debt at graduation is $20,500, drawn from the U.S. Treasury-matched College Scorecard file.

Outcomes reveal whether the investment pays back. The 4-year completion rate is 60.4%, and the first-year retention rate is 75.6%. Graduates earn a median of $44,737 ten years after enrolling, compared with $38,473 six years post-enrollment. Within three years of entering repayment, 364900.0% of borrowers are making progress on their federal loans, and 59.3% 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.