How this school serves students from different economic backgrounds, including Pell students, first-generation pathways, and long-term mobility outcomes.
Cleveland State University serves a student body with deep roots in the Cleveland community. 91.3% of applicants are admitted, and the ACT midpoint for enrolled students is 23. Among undergraduates, 40.5% receive Pell Grants and 38.4% are first-generation college students — figures that reflect the university's role as a broad-access institution for students who may not have a family roadmap for navigating higher education. Transfer students make up 41.7% of enrollment, a meaningful share that signals Cleveland State University's function as a destination for students who begin elsewhere and continue here. Azimuth ranks Cleveland State University #359 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions. On the mobility side, low-income graduates see median earnings of $43,300 on a historical ten-year Scorecard measure, placing this cohort in the 51.7 percentile for low-income graduate median earnings among nonprofit four-year institutions. The six-year graduation rate is 50.6%, with 45.8% of Pell-eligible students completing within that window — a completion gap worth noting given the institution's broad-access mission. Freshman retention stands at 70.3%. Azimuth ranks Cleveland State University #154 for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions. The access-versus-outcomes framing is instructive here: Cleveland State University opens its doors widely to Pell-eligible and first-generation students, and the mobility ranking reflects both the scale of that access and the degree to which graduates convert enrollment into durable earnings gains.
Cleveland State University serves a student body with deep roots in the Cleveland community. 91.3% of applicants are admitted, and the ACT midpoint for enrolled students is 23. Among undergraduates, 40.5% receive Pell Grants and 38.4% are first-generation college students — figures that reflect the university's role as a broad-access institution for students who may not have a family roadmap for navigating higher education. Transfer students make up 41.7% of enrollment, a meaningful share that signals Cleveland State University's function as a destination for students who begin elsewhere and continue here. Azimuth ranks Cleveland State University #359 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions. On the mobility side, low-income graduates see median earnings of $43,300 on a historical ten-year Scorecard measure, placing this cohort in the 51.7 percentile for low-income graduate median earnings among nonprofit four-year institutions. The six-year graduation rate is 50.6%, with 45.8% of Pell-eligible students completing within that window — a completion gap worth noting given the institution's broad-access mission. Freshman retention stands at 70.3%. Azimuth ranks Cleveland State University #154 for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions. The access-versus-outcomes framing is instructive here: Cleveland State University opens its doors widely to Pell-eligible and first-generation students, and the mobility ranking reflects both the scale of that access and the degree to which graduates convert enrollment into durable earnings gains.
Cleveland State University serves a student body with deep roots in the Cleveland community. 91.3% of applicants are admitted, and the ACT midpoint for enrolled students is 23. Among undergraduates, 40.5% receive Pell Grants and 38.4% are first-generation college students — figures that reflect the university's role as a broad-access institution for students who may not have a family roadmap for navigating higher education. Transfer students make up 41.7% of enrollment, a meaningful share that signals Cleveland State University's function as a destination for students who begin elsewhere and continue here. Azimuth ranks Cleveland State University #359 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions. On the mobility side, low-income graduates see median earnings of $43,300 on a historical ten-year Scorecard measure, placing this cohort in the 51.7 percentile for low-income graduate median earnings among nonprofit four-year institutions. The six-year graduation rate is 50.6%, with 45.8% of Pell-eligible students completing within that window — a completion gap worth noting given the institution's broad-access mission. Freshman retention stands at 70.3%. Azimuth ranks Cleveland State University #154 for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions. The access-versus-outcomes framing is instructive here: Cleveland State University opens its doors widely to Pell-eligible and first-generation students, and the mobility ranking reflects both the scale of that access and the degree to which graduates convert enrollment into durable earnings gains.
