Salem State University

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

Salem State University operates as a public institution located in Salem, Massachusetts (suburb: large), with a total reported enrollment of 4,291 students of which 5,679 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. Salem 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 95.9%, drawn from the most recent IPEDS Fall enrollment survey. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $15,996, with published in-state tuition of $12,338 and a Pell grant recipient share of 35.4%. Median federal student debt at graduation is $25,000, drawn from the U.S. Treasury-matched College Scorecard file.

Outcomes reveal whether the investment pays back. The 4-year completion rate is 52.4%, and the first-year retention rate is 75.3%. Graduates earn a median of $56,662 ten years after enrolling, compared with $48,209 six years post-enrollment. Within three years of entering repayment, 326000.0% of borrowers are making progress on their federal loans, and 69.7% 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.