College Azimuth

Research brief & institution hub

Boise State University

IDLarge public institution · Overall rank #420 nationally

Data snapshot Updated

Overall standing: the 71st percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Who it’s a good fit for

Boise State University is a public university in Boise, Idaho, where Health Professions and Business account for the largest shares of degrees. Most graduates are estimated to go into jobs rather than on to further study, and the degree mix is oriented toward professional fields.

Graduates out-earn what predicts for students like them. The model attributes an addition to the factors it measures — field of study, enrollment and the local labor market — and a subtraction to the remainder it cannot explain.

Return is above average. Students who arrive with Pell Grants finish below the rate for the entering cohort as a whole.

Mobility is well above average, while access is around the average. The admission rate is above the median for comparable schools.

A student drawn to the social sciences should go in knowing that the largest departments include both high-earning health fields and lower-earning social sciences.

Boise State University at a glance

Admissions and outcomes

Admission rate[1]
87.2%
Six-year completion[2]
60.2%
Four-year earnings[3]
$64,791

Cost and family borrowing

Average annual net price · $48–75K family income[6]
$20,731
Median student debt[4]
$20,500
Median Parent PLUS debt[7]
$18,968

Boise State University rankings: how Azimuth assesses value[5]

Boise State University is a public university in Boise, Idaho, with an undergraduate enrollment of 17,674. Its composite standing falls in the upper-middle portion of the field among nonprofit four-year institutions (71st percentile).

Boise State University admits 87.2% of applicants, against a peer median of 78.1% for comparable institutions of the same type and size. Retention for the first-time full-time cohort is 78.8%, against a peer median of 83.1%.

The six-year graduation rate is 60.2%, against a peer median of 65.0%, a measure limited to the first-time full-time cohort. An estimated 36.1% of undergraduates arrive as transfers or part-time students and is not reflected in that rate.

At Boise State University, the four sit in a fairly tight band, with mobility the strongest (75th percentile) and access the weakest (55th percentile). Return and affordability fall in between (71st and 56th percentiles).

The result is a set of pillars clustered relatively close together, with mobility at the top and access at the bottom.

Boise State University shows its strongest Azimuth standing in mobility, which gives the school’s profile its clearest positive signal. Among nonprofit four-year institutions, mobility stands in the 75th percentile.

Azimuth places return in the 71st percentile, affordability in the 56th percentile, and access in the 55th percentile. Mobility is the strongest pillar, while access is the weakest.

18.1% of undergraduates at Boise State University receive Pell Grants. Azimuth ranks Boise State University #665 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Pell recipients in the first-time full-time cohort complete at a rate of 51.9%, which sits 8.3 percentage points below the overall six-year graduation rate (60.2%). Azimuth ranks the university #363 for mobility.

Graduates earn about $4,697 more than the model expects for similar students, a result that coincides with the mobility pillar's position as the strongest of the four for this institution.

How value-added outcomes are assessed · How to interpret program rankings

Boise State University rankings in context
GeographyRank
National#420

Azimuth overall value rankings within each geographic comparison group.

National pillar percentiles

Economic mobility
National percentile: 75
Access & reach
National percentile: 55
Affordability
National percentile: 56
Return on investment
National percentile: 71

Top-ranked majors

  1. Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions#9
  2. Health Professions and Related Clinical Sciences, Other#12
  3. Construction Management#15

This school’s three highest-ranked programs nationally. Each rank compares bachelor’s programs in the same field; field sizes differ.

Explore major rankings

01 / Boise State University briefing

Boise State University cost & financial aid[6][7]

Boise State University has a published annual cost of $28,224 before aid is applied. In-state tuition and fees are $9,048, room and board are $14,884, and out-of-state tuition and fees are $27,788.

For aid recipients, the average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $21,610, with average aid reducing the published cost by $6,614. Comparable institutions (same type and size) have a peer median net price of $15,634; Boise State’s average is $5,976 above that figure.

Azimuth ranks Boise State University #619 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions. Aid lowers the listed cost, though the average price remains above the peer median.

Boise State University posts a cost of attendance of $28,224, with aid-recipient prices varying by family income. The average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $18,165 for the lowest family-income band, $17,974 for the lower-middle band, $20,731 for the middle band, $23,573 for the upper-middle band, and $25,893 for the highest band.

The spread between the lowest and highest bands is $7,728. Azimuth ranks the university #619 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Aid offsets part of the published price, though the overall aid-recipient cost sits above the comparable-peer midpoint. Aid covers about 23% of the published cost for the average aid recipient, or $6,614 in savings.

Across all aid recipients, the is $21,610. The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $15,634, making Boise State’s figure $5,976 above.

Published in-state tuition is $9,048, and out-of-state tuition is $27,788. Federal borrowing at completion matches the comparable-institution median, but many undergraduates borrow.

Among borrowers who completed, median federal student loan debt is $20,500. That is above the $20,076 peer median for comparable institutions (same type and size), with a gap of $424.

81.3% of federal aid recipients borrow federal loans, and that debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $233 a month if repaid over ten years. Parent PLUS borrowers have median borrowing of $18,968.

Your family income

Choose a household income range to see estimated net price.

Reported average annual net price · $48–75K$20,731

After grants and scholarships. Your aid offer may differ.

Averages within each income band; individual aid packages vary.

Borrowing and repayment at Boise State University

Federal borrowing is widespread at Boise State University: 81.3% of federal aid recipients take federal loans. Among borrowers who complete a degree, median federal student debt is $20,500, which is above the peer median of $20,076 for comparable institutions (same type and size).

In its 2024-25 Common Data Set, the university reported that 47% of graduates in the cohort borrowed from any source. The average cumulative debt per borrower was $27,864.

Federal loans were held by 46% of graduates, including those who also held private loans, at an average of $20,448. A smaller share of graduates, 10%, held private loans averaging $39,644.

Parents who borrow through the separate Parent PLUS program hold a median of $18,968.

Earnings at Boise State University run above what the model predicts for similar students, but debt sits slightly above the peer median. The median four years after completion is $64,791 among federally aided graduates who are working and not enrolled.

That figure falls in the 65th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $4,697 more than the model expects for similar students.

That gap sits at the 70th percentile. The program mix yields earnings scenarios of $64,791 typically, $47,575 in a downside case and $94,098 in an upside case.

Borrowers who finish carry a median of $20,500 in federal loans. That is $424 above the peer median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

If repaid over ten years, that debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $233 a month.

Parent borrowers have median Parent PLUS borrowing of $18,968, a separate figure from student federal borrowing. For borrowers with median federal debt, that debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $233 a month if repaid over ten years.

How Financial GPS measures payment burden · The four risk-and-reward zones

Financial GPS

What does repayment look like?

Institution median student debt
$20,500
Institution Parent PLUS debt
$18,968

Federal loans only; private or institutional loans aren’t included.

Estimated student payment · monthly
$233/mo
Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly
$241/mo

Payments use school-wide median balances, not a specific major’s.

Payment assumptions

Payments are 10-year standard payments on the median balance, before loan fees, used as a yardstick. Rates for newly issued loans may differ, and loans made after July 1, 2026 can repay over a longer term; existing loans keep their original fixed rates.

Explore your own numbers in Financial GPS
Read the full cost & aid brief

02 / Boise State University briefing

Boise State University career outcomes & earnings[3][8][9]

Azimuth places the return pillar for Boise State University in the 71st percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Among federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled, the median four years after completion is $64,791, in the 65th percentile.

Against the peer median of $65,610 for comparable institutions (same type and size), this figure is $819 below. Graduates earn about $4,697 more than the model expects for similar students.

That puts the gap at the 70th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $8,069.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $3,372. Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $898.

Boise State University posts a schoolwide earnings midpoint above the middle of nonprofit four-year institutions. Median earnings are $64,791 four years after completion among federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled.

Azimuth places that measure in the 65th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions, based on an earnings cohort of 4,132 completers. The typical earnings scenario matches the reported median, while the downside scenario is $47,575 and the upside scenario is $94,098.

These are scenarios estimated from the program mix, not observed groups. The program mix estimates that 29.4% of graduates continue to graduate study; this is not observed enrollment.

Graduates earn about $4,697 more than the model expects for similar students. The schoolwide midpoint and modeled range provide context for an outcome that exceeds the model’s expectation.

Federally aided graduates from Boise State University who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $64,791 four years after completion, at the 65th percentile. That median sits $819 below the $65,610 figure for comparable institutions (same type and size), so the university trails its peer group by a small margin.

Azimuth ranks the university #428 for return among nonprofit four-year institutions. Its graduates earn about $4,697 more than the model expects for similar students.

Earnings beyond expectations measure the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students. That outcome falls at the 70th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $8,069. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $3,372.

Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $898, a modest share in a mix led by health and business fields that together represent a large share of degrees awarded. Earnings scenarios, estimated from the program mix, range from a downside of $47,575 to an upside of $94,098, showing a wide spread between lower- and higher-earning program clusters.

An estimated 29.4% of graduates continue to graduate study, based on the program mix.

Expected earnings differ markedly by program mix at Boise State University. Downside and upside earnings scenarios span $47,575 to $94,098 four years after completion; they are scenarios rather than observed graduate groups.

The scenario range and program results show that the schoolwide median does not describe every field.

Boise State University pairs peer-level borrowing with higher-than-expected earnings, although its average net price runs above the comparable-school figure. Among borrowers who completed, median federal student loan debt is $20,500, close to the $20,076 peer median at comparable institutions (same type and size).

That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $233 a month if repaid over ten years. Earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what completers earn and what the model expects for similar students, provide the other side of the picture.

Completers four years after completion earn about $4,697 more than the model expects for similar students. The average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $21,610, which is above the $15,634 peer median by $5,976.

Peer-level debt and above-expected earnings point favorably, while the higher average net price warrants equal attention.

What explains value-added earnings?
Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.
+$8,069
Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.
-$3,372
Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.
+$4,697

These are statistical model components, not proven causal effects; the remainder is not a direct measure of teaching quality.

Read the full outcomes brief

03 / Boise State University briefing

Boise State University acceptance rate & admissions[1][10][11]

With an admission rate of 87.2%, Boise State University admitted a larger share of applicants than comparable institutions. That figure is above the median of 78.1% for comparable institutions (same type and size), so the reported outcome sits higher than its peer reference point.

In its 2024-25 Common Data Set, the university reported 16,082 first-year applicants and 14,025 admitted applicants.

Admissions
Admission rate
87.2%
Read the full admissions brief

04 / Boise State University briefing

What are the largest majors at Boise State University?[12]

At Boise State University, ranked program earnings show a clear divide between higher- and moderate-earning fields four years after completion. Construction Management had median earnings of $95,250 and 52 degrees awarded; Azimuth ranks it #15 nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions in its field.

Health Professions and Related Clinical Sciences recorded $60,164 with 180 degrees awarded and holds an Azimuth national rank of #12 among nonprofit four-year institutions in its field. Allied Health Professions posted $89,863 across 291 degrees awarded; Azimuth ranks it #9 nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions in its field.

Multi-/Interdisciplinary Studies had $51,708 in median earnings and 158 degrees awarded, with an Azimuth national rank of #16 among nonprofit four-year institutions in its field. The figures show that earnings vary substantially by field within the ranked programs.

Health-related fields give Boise State University’s program profile a clear center. The university has 31 ranked bachelor’s fields.

Azimuth places Allied Health Professions at #9 nationally in its field; it awarded 291 degrees, and completers had median earnings of $89,863 four years after completion. Azimuth places Health Professions and Related Clinical Sciences at #12 nationally in its field; it awarded 180 degrees, and completers had median earnings of $60,164 four years after completion.

Azimuth places Construction Management at #15 nationally in its field; it awarded 52 degrees, and completers had median earnings of $95,250 four years after completion. The rankings span health and construction-related study, with different four-year earnings figures across them.

Boise State University awards bachelor's degrees across 38 programs with published four-year earnings, 31 of which carry an Azimuth national rank. Health Professions is the largest program family, accounting for 25.5% of degrees awarded, followed by Business at 18.5%.

The largest single program is Nursing, at 509 degrees awarded, with Allied Health Professions next at 291 and Business/Commerce at 209. The highest-ranked program is Allied Health Professions, which awards 291 degrees a year and ranks #1 in Idaho within its field.

Health Professions and Related Clinical Sciences awards 180 degrees and ranks #12 nationally and #1 in Idaho within its field. The highest-earning program is Computer Science, where completers earn a median of $112,120 four years after completion, from 126 degrees awarded.

Electrical Engineering follows at $100,680, though it is a much smaller program at 37 degrees a year. The pattern is one of strength concentrated in health and business fields.

Two of the largest programs, Nursing and Allied Health Professions, also appear among the five highest-earning programs, while the best-paid programs in computing and engineering are smaller. The top-ranked programs in the state are spread across several fields, from Allied Health Professions to Multi-/Interdisciplinary Studies.

Across all fields, 15.4% of degrees awarded are in STEM. Some of the largest programs in business and communication sit closer to the national median for their fields.

Four-year earnings · six largest reported fields
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing 509 degrees awarded
$91,491
Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions 291 degrees awarded
$89,863
Business/Commerce, General 209 degrees awarded
$64,202
Psychology, General 193 degrees awarded
$51,184
Communication and Media Studies 183 degrees awarded
$53,278
Business Administration, Management and Operations 181 degrees awarded
$66,283

Fields selected by reported completions. Counts describe credentials awarded, not unique students or the earnings sample. Bars show median four-year earnings.

Read the full majors brief

05 / Boise State University briefing

How does Boise State University serve students from different backgrounds?

Boise State University pairs higher-than-expected graduate earnings with a mobility record that includes a completion gap by Pell status. Pell recipients in the first-time full-time cohort complete within six years at 51.9%, below the 60.2% six-year graduation rate by 8.3 percentage points.

Azimuth places the mobility pillar in the 75th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. For earnings beyond expectations, the gap between graduate earnings and the model’s expectation for similar students, Azimuth places the university in the 70th percentile nationally. Graduates earn about $4,697 more than the model expects for similar students.

A high admission rate makes entry relatively open at Boise State University, which admits 87.2% of applicants. The public university enrolls 17,674 undergraduates, with Pell Grant recipients representing 18.1% of that population.

An estimated 36.1% of undergraduates enter as transfers or part-time students, adding another route into the university. Azimuth places its access pillar in the 55th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions, placing these entry measures near the middle of that national comparison.

06 / Boise State University briefing

What colleges are similar to Boise State University?[15]

Azimuth groups alternatives by admissions, location, cost and earnings, then orders candidates within each group. Peer earnings use the matched four-year cohort. How matching works.

A shortlist for different decisions

Choose a row to compare the figures with Boise State University.

Admissions peerLewis-Clark State College87.7% admitted
Comparison with Boise State University
MeasureBoise State UniversityLewis-Clark State College
Peer earnings · 4 years$64,791$58,274-$6,517 vs Boise State University
Average annual net price$21,610$15,635-$5,975 vs Boise State University · lower cost
Admission rate87.2%87.7%
Higher-admission alternativeSouthern Illinois University Edwardsville97.5% admitted
Comparison with Boise State University
MeasureBoise State UniversitySouthern Illinois University Edwardsville
Peer earnings · 4 years$64,791$65,199+$408 vs Boise State University
Average annual net price$21,610$14,889-$6,721 vs Boise State University · lower cost
Admission rate87.2%97.5%
Explore Southern Illinois University Edwardsville →
Nearby alternativeNorthwest Nazarene UniversityNearby option · ID
Comparison with Boise State University
MeasureBoise State UniversityNorthwest Nazarene University
Peer earnings · 4 years$64,791$60,040-$4,751 vs Boise State University
Average annual net price$21,610$29,580+$7,970 vs Boise State University · higher cost
Admission rate87.2%64.7%
Higher-earnings alternativeCal Poly Maritime Academy$108,757 earnings
Comparison with Boise State University
MeasureBoise State UniversityCal Poly Maritime Academy
Peer earnings · 4 years$64,791$108,757+$43,966 vs Boise State University
Average annual net price$21,610$20,555-$1,055 vs Boise State University · lower cost
Admission rate87.2%95.0%
Explore Cal Poly Maritime Academy →
Lower-cost alternativeCUNY Lehman College$3,148 average net price
Comparison with Boise State University
MeasureBoise State UniversityCUNY Lehman College
Peer earnings · 4 years$64,791$63,353-$1,438 vs Boise State University
Average annual net price$21,610$3,148-$18,462 vs Boise State University · lower cost
Admission rate87.2%56.6%
Explore CUNY Lehman College →
Similar profileUniversity of California-Santa CruzMatched across several measures
Comparison with Boise State University
MeasureBoise State UniversityUniversity of California-Santa Cruz
Peer earnings · 4 years$64,791$67,085+$2,294 vs Boise State University
Average annual net price$21,610$17,890-$3,720 vs Boise State University · lower cost
Admission rate87.2%65.8%
Explore University of California-Santa Cruz →

Each school is the first-ranked match in its category, not a recommendation across every measure. The same college may lead more than one category. Figures use the matching snapshot; earnings reflect the matched four-year cohort. — means unavailable.

Read the full similar schools brief

Data scope & methodology

Structured payloads generated Governed hub narrative Governed spoke corpus

Four-year earnings describe cohorts of completers. Figures for other horizons describe different cohorts and are not joined into a career-growth projection.

Azimuth's overall rank and pillar percentiles come from the school profile. Absolute pillar ranks, city, enrollment and official-site links are shown only when structured data supplies them.

Detailed earnings, cost, admissions and program values come from the endpoint responsible for each measure. Missing values are not replaced with zero. Value-added estimates are model associations, not causal effects.

Figures are refreshed with each data release, at most a quarter apart. The underlying source dates can be earlier than the release.

Explanatory text is AI-assisted drafting checked against those figures; it is not an additional data source.

Analysis and methodology by Daniel Rogers, founder of College Azimuth.

Read the ranking methodology, data definitions and limitations · About College Azimuth

Read the analysis behind value-added earnings and the change to four-year graduate earnings. These articles are published on collegeazimuth.com.

Data notes & source fields

Scorecard field codes identify the underlying measure; Azimuth-derived values are labeled separately. Snapshot dates are not measurement years. Source populations and reporting periods differ across measures. Field definitions are in the U.S. Department of Education · College Scorecard documentation; notes with a different source link it below.

  1. Admission rate. Reported applicants admitted; not a transfer-specific or individual admission probability.

    Source fields: ADM_RATE

  2. Six-year completion. First-time, full-time students completing at the institution within 150% of normal time, typically six years for a bachelor’s degree.

    Source fields: C150_4

  3. Four-year institutional earnings. Median earnings of graduates in the reported cohort who are working and not enrolled, four years after completion.

    Source fields: MD_EARN_WNE_4YR

  4. Median federal student debt. Federal student-loan debt among completers in the reported borrowing cohort. Excludes Parent PLUS and is not total debt across all students.

    Source fields: GRAD_DEBT_MDN

  5. National, regional and state ranks; pillar percentiles; major ranks. Derived scores within the stated eligible comparison set, not raw Scorecard fields. Major ranks compare institutions within a field; their denominators differ.

    Source fields: Azimuth rankings

    College Azimuth · Ranking methodology

  6. Annual net price by family income. Average annual cost after grants and scholarships for the eligible first-time, full-time aid-recipient cohort. Public-school figures reflect in-state tuition. Includes living costs; these are averages, not medians or individual offers.

    Source fields: NPT4_PUB/PRIV; NPT41_PUB/PRIV through NPT45_PUB/PRIV

  7. Parent PLUS debt, payments and GPS illustration. Stored payments use Financial GPS loan and repayment assumptions. The adjustable spectrum applies the published framework to annual student payments divided by earnings minus an expense allowance; its initial allowance is 150% of the federal poverty guideline for one person, for the year the API serves. It is an illustration rather than a school rating. The parent table is the 10-year payment on the median Parent PLUS as a share of household income above 200% of the guideline for a household of three: under 6% Safe, 6–10% Caution, over 10% High pressure. Parent PLUS uses the completer median where available, otherwise the all-borrower median; these describe different borrowing populations.

    Source fields: PLUS_DEBT_ALL_COMP_MD; fallback PLUS_DEBT_ALL_MD; Azimuth Financial GPS calculations

    College Azimuth · Financial GPS methodology

  8. Downside and upside earnings; yellow band. The band spans the modeled lower and higher scenarios. It is not the P25–P75 interval for individual graduates. The median marker is the separately reported institutional median.

    Source fields: Azimuth modeled program-mix scenarios

    College Azimuth · Earnings scenario methodology

  9. Value added and its components. Observed-factor attribution plus the unexplained remainder equals total modeled value added. These are associations, not proven causal effects; the remainder is not a direct measure of teaching quality.

    Source fields: Azimuth statistical model

    College Azimuth · Value-added methodology

  10. SAT score range and reported midpoint. Reported scores of enrolled score-submitters, not admission cutoffs. The midpoint field is not necessarily the middle of the displayed range.

    Source fields: SATVR25 + SATMT25; SATVR75 + SATMT75; SAT_AVG

  11. First-year retention. Retention of the reported full-time cohort at four-year institutions.

    Source fields: RET_FT4

  12. Program earnings, completion counts and major-mix dots. Included bachelor’s programs have at least five reported completions. Counts are aggregated credentials, not unique people or an earnings sample. Major-mix dots group those counts by field of study; excluded programs are not zero activity.

    Source fields: EARN_MDN_4YR; IPEDSCOUNT1; CIPCODE

    College Scorecard · Field-of-study technical documentation

  13. Pell recipients. Share of undergraduates receiving a Pell Grant in the reported academic year.

    Source fields: PCTPELL

  14. Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group. This is not an observed transfer-in rate. It includes part-time entrants and other entering-student attendance patterns.

    Source fields: 1 − PFTFTUG1_EF

  15. Peer earnings and signed differences. Differences are peer minus this school, from the same matching snapshot. A positive earnings difference does not mean the peer is better on every measure.

    Source fields: Azimuth peer model using MD_EARN_WNE_4YR

    College Azimuth · Comparison methodology

How to interpret program rankings