Sam Houston State University

What the IPEDS & College Scorecard Data Shows for Sam Houston State University

Sam Houston State University operates as a public institution located in Huntsville, Texas (town: distant), with a total reported enrollment of 17,743 students of which 19,844 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. Sam Houston 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 90.3%, drawn from the most recent IPEDS Fall enrollment survey, with an average SAT of 1,041 and an ACT midpoint of 21. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $16,404, with published in-state tuition of $9,228 and a Pell grant recipient share of 41.3%. Median federal student debt at graduation is $21,983, drawn from the U.S. Treasury-matched College Scorecard file.

Outcomes reveal whether the investment pays back. The 4-year completion rate is 54.9%, and the first-year retention rate is 73.3%. Graduates earn a median of $54,211 ten years after enrolling, compared with $45,337 six years post-enrollment. Within three years of entering repayment, 669900.0% of borrowers are making progress on their federal loans, and 73.6% 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.