Wichita State University

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

Wichita State University operates as a public institution located in Wichita, Kansas (city: large), with a total reported enrollment of 10,780 students of which 14,506 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. Wichita 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 94.0%, drawn from the most recent IPEDS Fall enrollment survey, with an average SAT of 1,092 and an ACT midpoint of 23. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $13,194, with published in-state tuition of $9,684 and a Pell grant recipient share of 30.6%. 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 51.2%, and the first-year retention rate is 69.3%. Graduates earn a median of $51,532 ten years after enrolling, compared with $44,043 six years post-enrollment. Within three years of entering repayment, 558500.0% of borrowers are making progress on their federal loans, and 70.3% 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.