Portland State University

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

Portland State University operates as a public institution located in Portland, Oregon (city: large), with a total reported enrollment of 13,182 students of which 19,139 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. Portland State University is categorized as “16” 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 90.9%, drawn from the most recent IPEDS Fall enrollment survey and an ACT midpoint of 21. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $9,552, with published in-state tuition of $11,679 and a Pell grant recipient share of 41.6%. 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 52.9%, and the first-year retention rate is 76.1%. Graduates earn a median of $57,906 ten years after enrolling, compared with $46,937 six years post-enrollment. Within three years of entering repayment, 1164000.0% of borrowers are making progress on their federal loans, and 65.0% 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.