College Azimuth

Research brief & institution hub

Drury University

MOSmall private nonprofit institution · Overall rank #1300 nationally

Data snapshot Updated

Azimuth ranks Drury University #1,300 among 1,467 nonprofit four-year institutions.

Who it’s a good fit for

Drury University is a private nonprofit university in Springfield, Missouri, where the degree mix is led by Biological Sciences and Business. Affordability is around the average.

Graduates earn less than predicts for students like them. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures adds to expected earnings, while the part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts from them.

Return is below the levels seen at many peers. The overall , what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, sits below the median at comparable institutions.

But Pell students complete at a rate below the cohort as a whole. Access is modestly below average and mobility is below the levels seen at many peers.

The admission rate is below the median for comparable institutions, and most graduates are estimated to go into work rather than on to further study. A student drawn to Architecture or Biology should know that the highest-earning program, Accounting, is a much smaller one.

Drury University at a glance

Admissions and outcomes

Admission rate[1]
57.6%
Six-year completion[2]
61.8%
Four-year earnings[3]
$47,568

Cost and family borrowing

Average annual net price · $48–75K family income[6]
$17,552
Median student debt[4]
$20,979
Median Parent PLUS debt[7]
$26,668

Drury University rankings: how Azimuth assesses value[5]

Drury University is a private nonprofit university in Springfield, Missouri, enrolling 1,383 undergraduates. The four that shape its Azimuth composite are spread wide: affordability is the strongest, at the 54th percentile, while mobility is the weakest, at the 4th percentile.

The university admits 57.6% of applicants, a rate that is more selective than the 75.7% median for comparable institutions (same type and size). Of students who start full time, 79.2% return for a second year, against a peer median of 74.2%.

The six-year graduation rate for that first-time, full-time cohort is 61.8%, compared with a peer median of 54.9%. An estimated 21.3% of entrants arrive as transfers or part-time students, so the graduation rate describes a specific subset of the student body rather than everyone who studies here.

Return and access sit between the strongest and weakest pillars, at the 18th and 29th percentiles respectively. The picture is one of a school where cost is the clearest strength and the earnings and mobility measures pull in different directions.

Affordability is Drury University's strongest pillar, at the 54th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions in the Azimuth coverage set. Return and access sit at the 18th and 29th percentiles respectively, while mobility is the weakest pillar at the 4th percentile.

25.6% of undergraduates receive Pell Grants, a figure that covers the institution's federal-aid reporting units, not this campus alone. The middle 50% of submitted SAT scores ranged from 1,130 to 1,290, and the middle 50% of ACT scores from 22 to 29.

Azimuth ranks Drury University #1,041 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions. The six-year completion rate for Pell recipients is 36.1%, 25.7 percentage points below the rate for the entering cohort as a whole (61.8%).

Azimuth ranks the university #1,411 for mobility. Graduates earn about $4,824 less than the model expects for similar students.

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

Drury University rankings in context
GeographyRank
National#1,300

Azimuth overall value rankings within each geographic comparison group.

National pillar percentiles

Economic mobility
National percentile: 4
Access & reach
National percentile: 29
Affordability
National percentile: 54
Return on investment
National percentile: 18

01 / Drury University briefing

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

At Drury University, the standard student budget lists a cost of attendance of $48,846. Tuition and fees are $36,745, while room and board runs $12,272.

For the average aid recipient, grants and scholarships reduce the published cost by $28,015, producing an average net price of $20,831. Aid covers about 57% of the sticker price for a typical recipient.

The result is an average net price that is $1,516 below the $22,347 median for comparable institutions (same type and size). The peer median is the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Among nonprofit four-year institutions in the Azimuth coverage set, affordability lands at the 54th percentile for Drury University, the strongest of the four pillars here.

Drury University pairs a published cost of attendance of $48,846 (an average across living arrangements) with comparatively strong affordability standing. Average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $18,759 for the lowest family-income band, $15,769 for the lower-middle band, $17,552 for the middle band, $20,558 for the upper-middle band, and $24,458 for the highest band.

The spread between the lowest and highest bands is $5,699. Azimuth ranks the university #656 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Aid saves the average recipient $28,015 against the published cost and covers about 57% of that cost; the average net price across all aid recipients is $20,831. That average is $1,516 below the peer median net price of $22,347 for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Tuition and fees are $36,745, with room and board listed at $12,272. The lower after-aid average and peer comparison point in the same direction on price.

Among borrowers who completed, median federal student loan debt at completion is $20,979, and 78.6% of federal aid recipients borrow federal loans. The peer median debt at comparable institutions (same type and size) is $25,000, placing the university $4,021 below that figure.

That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $238 a month if repaid over ten years. Median Parent PLUS borrowing is $26,668.

Your family income

Choose a household income range to see estimated net price.

Reported average annual net price · $48–75K$17,552

After grants and scholarships. Your aid offer may differ.

Averages within each income band; individual aid packages vary.

Borrowing and repayment at Drury University

Borrowers who complete a degree at Drury University leave with a median of $20,979 in federal student loans. That is $4,021 below the $25,000 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Federal borrowing is common here, with 78.6% of federal aid recipients taking federal loans. Parents who borrow through the Parent PLUS program hold a separate median of $26,668.

At Drury University, the investment picture is shaped by earnings that trail the model's expectation and debt that runs below the peer median. Four years after completing a degree, federally aided graduates who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $47,568.

That figure sits at the 14th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $4,824 less than the model expects for similar students.

That outcome falls at the 37th percentile nationally. Earnings scenarios, estimated from the university's program mix, range from $41,970 in a downside case to $72,586 in an upside case, with $47,568 as the typical outcome.

On the borrowing side, the median federal student debt at completion is $20,979, which is $4,021 below the peer median. That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $238 a month if repaid over ten years.

The return picture is mixed: earnings land below the model's expectation, but debt also runs below the peer median.

Among the separate population of parent borrowers, median Parent PLUS borrowing is $26,668. For student borrowers, that debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $238 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
$20,979
Institution Parent PLUS debt
$26,668

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

Estimated student payment · monthly
$238/mo
Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly
$339/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 / Drury University briefing

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

Return measures at Drury University call for attention to both model expectations and comparable institutions. Azimuth assigns the return pillar to the 18th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Graduates earn about $4,824 less than the model expects for similar students. Among nonprofit four-year institutions, earnings beyond expectations—the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students—falls in the 37th percentile.

The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $5,274. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $10,098.

Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $3,611. Federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $47,568 four years after completion, in the 14th percentile.

The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $55,915; the university’s median is $8,347 below it.

Drury University graduates who received federal aid and are working and not enrolled earn a median of $47,568 four years after completion. That is the 14th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The earnings cohort includes 605 completers. Graduates earn about $4,824 less than the model expects for similar students.

That gap sits at the 37th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Those earnings fall $8,347 below the $55,915 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Earnings scenarios estimated from the program mix span from a downside of $41,970 to an upside of $72,586, with a typical outcome of $47,568. An estimated 38.8% of graduates continue to graduate study, based on the program mix.

Affordability is Drury University’s strongest Azimuth pillar, but its return measures sit below both comparable-school earnings and the model’s expectation. Four years after completion, federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled have median earnings of $47,568, in the 14th percentile.

The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $55,915, with Drury’s figure $8,347 below it. Graduates earn about $4,824 less 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 37th percentile. Azimuth ranks the university #1,196 for return among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Downside and upside earnings scenarios grounded in the program mix are $41,970 and $72,586. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $5,274.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $10,098. Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $3,611.

Program earnings vary across the fields with published results. Architecture is the largest program, with 30 degrees awarded and median earnings of $70,134 four years after completion, or 1.05x the national median for its field.

Accounting awarded 7 degrees and has median earnings of $80,200 four years after completion, at 1.05x the national median for its field. Biology awarded 29 degrees, with median earnings of $49,387 and 0.86x the national median for its field.

Teacher Education awarded 15 degrees and has median earnings of $37,713, or 0.80x the national median for its field. The field figures show an uneven pattern across these programs.

Earnings vary considerably by program at Drury University. Accounting graduates report the highest median four years after completion at $80,200, from 7 degrees awarded a year.

Architecture, the largest program with 30 degrees awarded, reports $70,134, while Business Administration and Management graduates earn $52,286. The earnings scenarios, derived from the program mix, show the range of possibilities: the downside scenario sits at $41,970 and the upside at $72,586.

These are not observed groups of graduates, but they illustrate how much the choice of field can shape earnings.

The affordability pillar is the strongest of the four at Drury University, and the debt figure sits below the peer median. Borrowers who finish carry a median of $20,979 in federal student loans, $4,021 below the $25,000 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $238 a month if repaid over ten years. The average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $20,831, which is $1,516 below the $22,347 peer median.

The spread between the lowest and highest income bands is $5,699, with aid recipients in the lowest band paying $18,759 on average and those in the highest paying $24,458. Parents who borrow hold a separate median of $26,668 in Parent PLUS loans.

Graduates earn about $4,824 less than the model expects for similar students, and the return pillar sits at the 18th percentile. The affordability pillar, at the 54th percentile, is the stronger of the two, so the cost side of the equation is more favorable than the earnings side.

What explains value-added earnings?
Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.
+$5,274
Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.
-$10,098
Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.
-$4,824

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 / Drury University briefing

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

Drury University admits 57.6% of applicants, a rate that sits below the median of 75.7% for comparable institutions (same type and size). The university is more selective than its peer group, but the figure is a summary of one year's decisions, not a prediction for any single applicant.

SAT: approximate enrolled-student range
Admission rate
57.6%
Approximate lower endpoint
1130
Reported average
1218
Approximate upper endpoint
1290

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 / Drury University briefing

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

At Drury University, four-year earnings differ markedly across the programs with the strongest published figures. Accounting recorded median earnings of $80,200 four years after completion, alongside 7 degrees awarded in one academic year.

Architecture followed with $70,134 in median earnings and 30 degrees awarded. The more moderate figures include Business Administration and Management, where median earnings were $52,286 four years after completion and 24 degrees were awarded.

Teacher Education posted $37,713 with 15 degrees awarded. Higher figures in accounting and architecture sit alongside more moderate outcomes in business and teacher education, making field selection central to the earnings picture.

Biological Sciences accounts for 20.5% of bachelor's degrees awarded, followed by Business at 18.5%. The largest single program is Architecture, with 30 degrees awarded and median earnings of $70,134 four years after completion.

The highest-earning program is a smaller one: Accounting graduates earn $80,200, from 7 degrees awarded. Biology is the second-largest program with published earnings at 29 degrees awarded, with median earnings of $49,387, and Business Administration and Management awards 24 degrees and shows median earnings of $52,286.

The degree mix at Drury University is led by Biological Sciences, which accounts for 20.5% of bachelor's degrees awarded, followed by Business at 18.5%. Architecture is a smaller but distinct third at 8.4%.

The university has 9 programs with published four-year earnings data. The largest single program is Architecture, at 30 degrees awarded a year.

Its graduates earn a median of $70,134 four years after completion, which is 1.05x the national median for the field. Biology is close behind in size, with 29 degrees awarded, and its median earnings sit at $49,387.

The highest-earning program is a smaller one: Accounting, with 7 degrees awarded and a median of $80,200. That is 1.05x the national median for its field.

Rhetoric and Composition/Writing Studies is another small program, at 7 degrees awarded, where graduates earn $50,287. The pattern is one of a few well-paid, smaller programs alongside larger ones where earnings are more modest.

Business Administration and Management and Psychology, for instance, award 24 and 18 degrees respectively, with medians below the national benchmarks for their fields. Across all programs, 31.8% of degrees are in STEM.

Four-year earnings · six largest reported fields
Architecture 30 degrees awarded
$70,134
Biology, General 29 degrees awarded
$49,387
Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology 28 degrees awarded
Too few graduates to report
Business Administration, Management and Operations 24 degrees awarded
$52,286
Design and Applied Arts 23 degrees awarded
Too few graduates to report
Psychology, General 18 degrees awarded
$42,425

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 / Drury University briefing

What colleges are similar to Drury 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 Drury University.

Admissions peerAllegheny College54.6% admitted
Comparison with Drury University
MeasureDrury UniversityAllegheny College
Peer earnings · 4 years$47,568$56,294+$8,726 vs Drury University
Average annual net price$10,566$22,940+$12,374 vs Drury University · higher cost
Admission rate57.6%54.6%
Higher-admission alternativeEvangel University71.6% admitted
Comparison with Drury University
MeasureDrury UniversityEvangel University
Peer earnings · 4 years$47,568$46,593-$975 vs Drury University
Average annual net price$10,566$18,669+$8,103 vs Drury University · higher cost
Admission rate57.6%71.6%
Nearby alternativeEvangel UniversityNearby option · MO
Comparison with Drury University
MeasureDrury UniversityEvangel University
Peer earnings · 4 years$47,568$46,593-$975 vs Drury University
Average annual net price$10,566$18,669+$8,103 vs Drury University · higher cost
Admission rate57.6%71.6%
Higher-earnings alternativeFlorida Polytechnic University$86,952 earnings
Comparison with Drury University
MeasureDrury UniversityFlorida Polytechnic University
Peer earnings · 4 years$47,568$86,952+$39,384 vs Drury University
Average annual net price$10,566$11,853+$1,287 vs Drury University · higher cost
Admission rate57.6%57.5%
Explore Florida Polytechnic University →
Lower-cost alternativeCollege of the Ozarks$6,100 average net price
Comparison with Drury University
MeasureDrury UniversityCollege of the Ozarks
Peer earnings · 4 years$47,568$44,258-$3,310 vs Drury University
Average annual net price$10,566$6,100-$4,466 vs Drury University · lower cost
Admission rate57.6%12.0%
Explore College of the Ozarks →
Similar profileGrace College and Theological SeminaryMatched across several measures
Comparison with Drury University
MeasureDrury UniversityGrace College and Theological Seminary
Peer earnings · 4 years$47,568$49,126+$1,558 vs Drury University
Average annual net price$10,566$19,932+$9,366 vs Drury University · higher cost
Admission rate57.6%82.2%

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