How this school serves students from different economic backgrounds, including Pell students, first-generation pathways, and long-term mobility outcomes.
Ferris State University admits 91.4% of applicants, reflecting its broad-access mission in Michigan's higher education landscape. Among enrolled undergraduates, 34.2% receive Pell Grants and 35.3% are first-generation college students — figures that signal a campus where students from working-class and lower-income backgrounds are not the exception but the norm. Transfer enrollment accounts for 33.6% of the student body, underscoring the university's role as a destination for students who begin their academic path elsewhere before continuing at Ferris State. Azimuth ranks Ferris State University #541 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions. The six-year graduation rate is 46.9%, with 49.9% of Pell-eligible students completing within that window — a completion pattern that reflects the university's sustained investment in students who face the greatest structural barriers to finishing a degree. Freshman retention stands at 77.6%. For graduates from low-income backgrounds, median earnings reach $46,000 on a historical ten-year Scorecard measure, placing this cohort in the 58.9 percentile for low-income graduate earnings among nonprofit four-year institutions. Azimuth ranks Ferris State University #239 for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions. As explored in Azimuth's analysis of access versus outcomes at scale, institutions like Ferris State that serve large shares of Pell and first-generation students translate broad enrollment into aggregate mobility impact — even when per-student earnings sit at moderate levels relative to more selective peers.
Ferris State University admits 91.4% of applicants, reflecting its broad-access mission in Michigan's higher education landscape. Among enrolled undergraduates, 34.2% receive Pell Grants and 35.3% are first-generation college students — figures that signal a campus where students from working-class and lower-income backgrounds are not the exception but the norm. Transfer enrollment accounts for 33.6% of the student body, underscoring the university's role as a destination for students who begin their academic path elsewhere before continuing at Ferris State. Azimuth ranks Ferris State University #541 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions. The six-year graduation rate is 46.9%, with 49.9% of Pell-eligible students completing within that window — a completion pattern that reflects the university's sustained investment in students who face the greatest structural barriers to finishing a degree. Freshman retention stands at 77.6%. For graduates from low-income backgrounds, median earnings reach $46,000 on a historical ten-year Scorecard measure, placing this cohort in the 58.9 percentile for low-income graduate earnings among nonprofit four-year institutions. Azimuth ranks Ferris State University #239 for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions. As explored in Azimuth's analysis of access versus outcomes at scale, institutions like Ferris State that serve large shares of Pell and first-generation students translate broad enrollment into aggregate mobility impact — even when per-student earnings sit at moderate levels relative to more selective peers.
Ferris State University admits 91.4% of applicants, reflecting its broad-access mission in Michigan's higher education landscape. Among enrolled undergraduates, 34.2% receive Pell Grants and 35.3% are first-generation college students — figures that signal a campus where students from working-class and lower-income backgrounds are not the exception but the norm. Transfer enrollment accounts for 33.6% of the student body, underscoring the university's role as a destination for students who begin their academic path elsewhere before continuing at Ferris State. Azimuth ranks Ferris State University #541 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions. The six-year graduation rate is 46.9%, with 49.9% of Pell-eligible students completing within that window — a completion pattern that reflects the university's sustained investment in students who face the greatest structural barriers to finishing a degree. Freshman retention stands at 77.6%. For graduates from low-income backgrounds, median earnings reach $46,000 on a historical ten-year Scorecard measure, placing this cohort in the 58.9 percentile for low-income graduate earnings among nonprofit four-year institutions. Azimuth ranks Ferris State University #239 for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions. As explored in Azimuth's analysis of access versus outcomes at scale, institutions like Ferris State that serve large shares of Pell and first-generation students translate broad enrollment into aggregate mobility impact — even when per-student earnings sit at moderate levels relative to more selective peers.
