College Azimuth

Research brief & institution hub

Creighton University

NEMedium private nonprofit institution · Overall rank #716 nationally

Data snapshot Updated

Among nonprofit four-year institutions, Creighton University holds composite rank #716.

Who it’s a good fit for

Creighton University is a private nonprofit university in Omaha, Nebraska, where Health Professions and Business are the largest program families. Return is among the highest we track, while access and affordability sit below the levels seen at many peers.

Graduates out-earn what predicts for students like them. The model attributes most of that to the factors it measures, which adds to expected earnings, while the remainder it cannot explain subtracts from them.

Pell Grant recipients finish at a rate below the entering cohort as a whole. Mobility is around the average.

The admission rate is above the median for comparable institutions, and most graduates are estimated to go into work rather than further study. A student drawn to the largest programs should know that Nursing and Finance pay well, but Biology pays considerably less.

Creighton University at a glance

Admissions and outcomes

Admission rate[1]
79.7%
Six-year completion[2]
83.4%
Four-year earnings[3]
$81,178

Cost and family borrowing

Average annual net price · $48–75K family income[6]
$23,405
Median student debt[4]
$25,000
Median Parent PLUS debt[7]
$31,504

Creighton University rankings: how Azimuth assesses value[5]

Creighton University is a private nonprofit university in Omaha, Nebraska, enrolling 4,348 undergraduates. Its composite standing sits near the middle of the Azimuth ranking, but the four that make it up tell a more divided story.

Creighton University admits 79.8% of applicants, a rate above the 71.2% median for comparable institutions (same type and size). Retention runs well above the peer median: 94.2% of full-time first-year students return, against 83.4% at similar schools.

Completion follows the same pattern. The six-year graduation rate is 83.4%, compared with a peer median of 68.8%.

An estimated 12.0% of entrants arrive as transfers or part-time students, so that rate describes the first-time, full-time cohort and not the full student body. The four pillars sit far apart.

Return is the strongest, while access and affordability are the weakest, with mobility in between.

Return is the clear strength in Creighton University’s profile, while access and affordability sit near the bottom of its measures. Azimuth places return in the 92nd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions, making it the strongest pillar; mobility is in the 49th percentile.

Access, the weakest pillar, is in the 12th percentile, and affordability is in the 13th percentile. The profile pairs a high return standing with much lower access and affordability standings.

The middle 50% of submitted SAT scores fell between 1,243 and 1,428. For the ACT, the middle 50% ranged from 26 to 31.

11.5% of undergraduates receive Pell Grants. Azimuth ranks the university #1,290 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Pell recipients complete at 73.7%, 9.7 percentage points below the rate for the cohort as a whole. For mobility, Azimuth ranks the university #742 among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $10,914 more than the model expects for similar students.

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

Creighton University rankings in context
GeographyRank
National#716

Azimuth overall value rankings within each geographic comparison group.

National pillar percentiles

Economic mobility
National percentile: 49
Access & reach
National percentile: 12
Affordability
National percentile: 13
Return on investment
National percentile: 92

01 / Creighton University briefing

Creighton University cost & financial aid[6][7]

For aid recipients at Creighton University, the published annual price remains substantial after aid: the average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $31,568. The university lists a standard cost of attendance of $63,423, including $48,856 for tuition and fees and $13,652 for room and board.

Average aid savings against that published price are $31,855, which describes the typical reduction for aid recipients rather than any one family’s bill. At comparable institutions (same type and size), the peer median net price is $27,371; Creighton’s average is $4,197 above that benchmark.

Azimuth places the affordability pillar in the 13th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions, aligning with the higher post-aid price relative to peers.

Creighton University’s published cost of attendance is $63,423, and prices after aid vary widely by family income. The average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $20,472 for the lowest family-income band, $22,095 for the lower-middle band, $23,405 for the middle band, $28,113 for the upper-middle band, and $35,090 for the highest band.

The spread between the lowest and highest bands is $14,618. Azimuth ranks Creighton University #1,232 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Aid covers about 50% of the published cost for the average aid recipient, an average savings of $31,855 against the sticker price. Across all aid recipients, the is $31,568, which is $4,197 above the peer median of $27,371 at comparable institutions (same type and size).

Published tuition and fees are $48,856, and room and board are listed at $13,652. The aid savings and higher peer comparison point in different directions for families weighing price.

Among borrowers who completed, median federal student loan debt at completion is $25,000. That is $801 above the $24,199 peer median at comparable institutions (same type and size), and 94.2% of federal aid recipients borrow federal loans.

That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $284 a month if repaid over ten years. Median Parent PLUS borrowing is $31,504.

Your family income

Choose a household income range to see estimated net price.

Reported average annual net price · $48–75K$23,405

After grants and scholarships. Your aid offer may differ.

Averages within each income band; individual aid packages vary.

Borrowing and repayment at Creighton University

Federal borrowing reaches 94.2% of federal aid recipients at Creighton University, making loan use a central part of the cost picture. Among completers with federal loans, the median federal student loan debt is $25,000.

The peer median for comparable institutions (same type and size) is $24,199, and the university's median is $801 above that figure. For the separate parent-borrower population, median Parent PLUS borrowing is $31,504.

Graduates of Creighton University earn a median of $81,178 four years after completion, a figure in the 90th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. They earn about $10,914 more than the model expects for similar students, an outcome that falls at the 85th percentile.

Earnings scenarios, estimated from the university's program mix, show a typical outcome of $81,178. The downside earnings scenario is $53,837 and the upside scenario reaches $89,530.

Borrowers who finish carry a median of $25,000 in federal student loans, $801 above the $24,199 median for comparable institutions (same type and size). If repaid over ten years, that debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $284 a month.

The median Parent PLUS amount for parent borrowers, a population separate from student federal borrowers, is $31,504. That federal debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $284 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
$25,000
Institution Parent PLUS debt
$31,504

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

Estimated student payment · monthly
$284/mo
Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly
$400/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 / Creighton University briefing

Creighton University career outcomes & earnings[3][8][9]

Creighton University's return picture centers on median earnings of $81,178 four years after completion for federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled. That earnings figure is in the 90th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Azimuth places the return pillar in the 92nd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $10,914 more than the model expects for similar students.

Earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, is in the 85th 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 $11,271.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $357. Comparable institutions, the middle value for schools in the same type and size, have a peer median of $68,250; the university is $12,928 above it.

Creighton University posts strong early-career earnings, with federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled reaching median earnings of $81,178 four years after completion. Azimuth places that median in the 90th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions, drawing on an earnings cohort of 1,269 completers.

The earnings scenarios based on the program mix put the typical outcome at $81,178, with a downside scenario of $53,837 and an upside scenario of $89,530. Graduates earn about $10,914 more than the model expects for similar students.

An estimated 32.8% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure estimated from the program mix. The high earnings percentile and positive model comparison point in the same direction.

Creighton University has a return profile centered on median earnings of $81,178 four years after completion, placing it in the 90th percentile. The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $68,250; the university’s figure is $12,928 above it.

Graduates earn about $10,914 more than the model expects for similar students. That earnings-beyond-expectations result, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, sits in the 85th percentile.

The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $11,271. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $357.

Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $1,696. Earnings scenarios grounded in the program mix put the downside at $53,837 and the upside at $89,530.

Azimuth ranks Creighton University #124 for return among nonprofit four-year institutions. The peer comparison, modeled expectation, and return rank point in the same direction.

Nursing is the largest program, with 342 degrees awarded and median earnings of $84,294 four years after completion. Finance had 143 degrees awarded and earnings of $89,079, while Marketing had 75 degrees awarded and earnings of $85,891.

Biology had 95 degrees awarded and median earnings of $51,544. The largest programs therefore show a broad range of earnings rather than a single program-level pattern.

Program choice leaves a wide modeled range around Creighton University’s institutional earnings figure. The program-mix model sets a downside earnings scenario at $53,837 and an upside scenario at $89,530.

These are earnings scenarios, not observed groups. Among fields with higher listed medians, Accounting has median earnings of $95,837 four years after completion, Finance has $89,079, and Marketing has $85,891. Those field results help explain the span between the earnings scenarios.

Creighton University pairs a positive modeled earnings result with borrower debt that is above the comparable-peer figure. Among borrowers who completed, median federal student loan debt is $25,000.

The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $24,199; the university’s debt is above it by $801. That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $284 a month if repaid over ten years.

For parent borrowers, median Parent PLUS borrowing is $31,504. Earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, adds another modeled measure.

Graduates earn about $10,914 more than the model expects for similar students. The debt figure sits above peers alongside this positive earnings result.

What explains value-added earnings?
Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.
+$11,271
Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.
-$357
Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.
+$10,914

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 / Creighton University briefing

Creighton University acceptance rate & admissions[1][10][11]

Creighton University admitted 79.8% of its reported applicant pool, a rate above the median of 71.2% for comparable institutions (same type and size).

SAT: approximate enrolled-student range
Admission rate
79.7%
Approximate lower endpoint
1243
Reported average
1321
Approximate upper endpoint
1428

Enrolled students who submitted scores. This range is not an admission cutoff. The endpoints add section percentiles; they are not verified composite-score percentiles. A separate SAT-equivalent average is not plotted as a median. Source: College Scorecard; sum of section 25th/75th percentiles; enrolled score-submitters.

Read the full admissions brief

04 / Creighton University briefing

What are the largest majors at Creighton University?[12]

Creighton University combines large health and business degree output with markedly different earnings across fields four years after completion. Health Professions makes up 29.6% of degrees awarded, and Business accounts for 28.6%.

At the higher-earning end, Accounting reports median earnings of $95,837 four years after completion, with 48 degrees awarded. Finance follows at $89,079 and 143 degrees awarded, while Nursing records $84,294 across 342 degrees awarded.

The more moderate-earning Biology field reports $51,544 and 95 degrees awarded, so field choice matters when reading the university-wide earnings picture.

Health Professions accounts for 29.6% of bachelor’s degrees awarded, with Nursing as its largest listed field. The spread across these large fields makes the intended program an important part of the earnings picture.

Creighton University awards nearly three in ten bachelor's degrees in Health Professions (29.6%), with Business close behind at 28.6%. Biological Sciences is the third-largest family at 13.8%.

The university has 13 programs with published four-year earnings data. The largest single program is Nursing, at 342 degrees awarded, followed by Finance with 143 and Biology with 95.

The highest-earning program is Accounting, where graduates earn a median of $95,837 four years after completion, from 48 degrees awarded. Finance, the second-largest program, is also the second-highest-earning at $89,079.

Marketing graduates earn $85,891 from 75 degrees awarded, a benchmark ratio—program median compared with the national median for its field—of 1.24x. Nursing, the largest program, earns $84,294, which sits at 0.95x of its field's national median.

The earnings pattern is tight: four of the five largest programs have medians near or above the national median for their fields, while Biology is below at $51,544. Four-year earnings for fields that commonly precede graduate study understate later trajectories. Across all fields, 20.3% of degrees are in STEM.

Four-year earnings · six largest reported fields
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing 342 degrees awarded
$84,294
Finance and Financial Management Services 143 degrees awarded
$89,079
Biology, General 95 degrees awarded
$51,544
Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods 86 degrees awarded
$85,268
Marketing 75 degrees awarded
$85,891
Research and Experimental Psychology 74 degrees awarded
Too few graduates to report

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 / Creighton University briefing

How does Creighton University serve students from different backgrounds?

Creighton University pairs an 83.4% six-year graduation rate for the first-time full-time cohort with a 73.7% completion rate for Pell recipients, below the overall rate by 9.7 percentage points. Azimuth places the mobility pillar in the 49th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, also rank highly. Graduates earn about $10,914 more than the model expects for similar students.

Azimuth places this measure in the 85th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Completion and modeled earnings are favorable overall, though Pell completion trails.

Access at Creighton University begins with an admission rate of 79.8%, alongside undergraduate enrollment of 4,348 undergraduates. Pell Grant recipients make up 11.5% of undergraduates, and the estimated share of entrants outside the first-time, full-time group is 12.0%.

Azimuth places the access pillar in the 12th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The admission, Pell, and transfer measures describe different routes into the university, while the access percentile places that overall picture near the lower end of nonprofit four-year institutions.

06 / Creighton University briefing

What colleges are similar to Creighton 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 Creighton University.

Admissions peerSaint Louis University75.0% admitted
Comparison with Creighton University
MeasureCreighton UniversitySaint Louis University
Peer earnings · 4 years$81,178$77,024-$4,154 vs Creighton University
Average annual net price$31,568$24,398-$7,170 vs Creighton University · lower cost
Admission rate79.7%75.0%
Explore Saint Louis University →
Higher-admission alternativeMaryville University of Saint Louis95.1% admitted
Comparison with Creighton University
MeasureCreighton UniversityMaryville University of Saint Louis
Peer earnings · 4 years$81,178$84,871+$3,693 vs Creighton University
Average annual net price$31,568$22,066-$9,502 vs Creighton University · lower cost
Admission rate79.7%95.1%
Explore Maryville University of Saint Louis →
Nearby alternativeBryan College of Health SciencesNearby option · NE
Comparison with Creighton University
MeasureCreighton UniversityBryan College of Health Sciences
Peer earnings · 4 years$81,178$77,318-$3,860 vs Creighton University
Average annual net price$31,568$26,919-$4,649 vs Creighton University · lower cost
Admission rate79.7%67.4%
Explore Bryan College of Health Sciences →
Higher-earnings alternativeKettering University$99,943 earnings
Comparison with Creighton University
MeasureCreighton UniversityKettering University
Peer earnings · 4 years$81,178$99,943+$18,765 vs Creighton University
Average annual net price$31,568$34,660+$3,092 vs Creighton University · higher cost
Admission rate79.7%78.7%
Explore Kettering University →
Lower-cost alternativeNebraska Methodist College of Nursing & Allied Health$21,863 average net price
Comparison with Creighton University
MeasureCreighton UniversityNebraska Methodist College of Nursing & Allied Health
Peer earnings · 4 years$81,178$74,574-$6,604 vs Creighton University
Average annual net price$31,568$21,863-$9,705 vs Creighton University · lower cost
Admission rate79.7%73.4%
Explore Nebraska Methodist College of Nursing & Allied Health →
Similar profileButler UniversityMatched across several measures
Comparison with Creighton University
MeasureCreighton UniversityButler University
Peer earnings · 4 years$81,178$73,732-$7,446 vs Creighton University
Average annual net price$31,568$36,041+$4,473 vs Creighton University · higher cost
Admission rate79.7%85.1%

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 uses the frozen 2024 framework baseline. It is an illustration rather than a school rating. 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