Northern State University

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

Northern State University operates as a public institution located in Aberdeen, South Dakota (town: remote), with a total reported enrollment of 1,273 students of which 4,602 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. Northern State University is categorized as “20” 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 93.0%, drawn from the most recent IPEDS Fall enrollment survey, with an average SAT of 1,089 and an ACT midpoint of 21. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $15,812, with published in-state tuition of $8,845 and a Pell grant recipient share of 12.4%. Median federal student debt at graduation is $22,320, drawn from the U.S. Treasury-matched College Scorecard file.

Outcomes reveal whether the investment pays back. The 4-year completion rate is 50.5%, and the first-year retention rate is 77.0%. Graduates earn a median of $47,618 ten years after enrolling, compared with $41,536 six years post-enrollment. Within three years of entering repayment, 113800.0% of borrowers are making progress on their federal loans, and 70.2% 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.