College Azimuth

Research brief & institution hub

Fort Hays State University

KSMedium public institution · Overall rank #550 nationally

Data snapshot Updated

Overall, Azimuth places Fort Hays State University in the 63rd percentile nationally.

Who it’s a good fit for

Fort Hays State University is a public university in Hays, Kansas, where Business dominates the degree mix. Affordability is well above average.

Graduates earn roughly what predicts for students like them, and the typical graduate earns below the median at comparable schools. The model attributes an addition to the factors it measures and a subtraction to what it cannot explain.

The lowest income band pays well below the published cost, while the highest band pays closer to it. Pell recipients complete at a rate below the cohort as a whole, so the price advantage is clearer than the completion picture.

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 some of the best-paid fields, like Nursing, are not the biggest ones.

Fort Hays State University at a glance

Admissions and outcomes

Admission rate[1]
90.3%
Six-year completion[2]
47.7%
Four-year earnings[3]
$56,419

Cost and family borrowing

Average annual net price · $48–75K family income[6]
$11,941
Median student debt[4]
$21,000
Median Parent PLUS debt[7]
$11,833

Fort Hays State University rankings: how Azimuth assesses value[5]

Fort Hays State University is a public university in Hays, Kansas, enrolling 9,733 undergraduates. The university sits near the middle of the Azimuth ranking among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The four are spread out, with affordability the clear strength and access the weakest. Applicants are admitted at a rate of 90.3%, near the 85.9% median for comparable institutions of the same type and size.

76.9% of full-time first-year students continue into a second year, against a peer median of 73.7%. The six-year graduation rate is 47.7%, close to the peer median of 49.1%.

An estimated 61.0% of entrants arrive as transfers or part-time students, so the first-time full-time cohort describes a minority of the student body. Affordability is the strongest pillar (at the 85th percentile), while access is the weakest of the four (at the 43rd percentile).

Mobility and return sit between them (at the 58th and 47th percentiles respectively). The four are spread across a wide range, with the top and bottom pillars far apart.

Affordability is the clearest part of Fort Hays State University’s profile, though access is the weakest. Among nonprofit four-year institutions, affordability stands in the 85th percentile, the university’s strongest pillar, and mobility is in the 58th percentile.

Return is in the 47th percentile, while access is in the 43rd percentile, its weakest showing. Strong affordability sits alongside more moderate mobility, return, and access measures.

22.8% of undergraduates at Fort Hays State University receive Pell Grants. The middle 50% of submitted SAT scores among enrolled students who provided them fell between 970 and 1,140, while the middle 50% of ACT scores ranged from 18 to 24.

Azimuth ranks Fort Hays State University #830 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions. The six-year completion rate for Pell recipients is 36.4%, which sits 11.3 percentage points below the rate for the entering cohort as a whole (47.7%).

For mobility, Azimuth ranks the university #612. Graduates earn about $422 more than the model expects for similar students, effectively at the expected level.

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

Fort Hays State University rankings in context
GeographyRank
National#550

Azimuth overall value rankings within each geographic comparison group.

National pillar percentiles

Economic mobility
National percentile: 58
Access & reach
National percentile: 43
Affordability
National percentile: 85
Return on investment
National percentile: 47

01 / Fort Hays State University briefing

Fort Hays State University cost & financial aid[6][7]

Affordability is a relative strength at Fort Hays State University: its published cost of attendance is $19,909. Within that sticker budget, in-state tuition and fees are $5,923, room and board are $9,120, and out-of-state tuition and fees are $17,741.

These published components are the starting price before grants and scholarships. For aid recipients, average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $12,569, with aid reducing the published cost by $7,340 on average.

The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $14,068; this university is $1,499 below that figure. Azimuth ranks Fort Hays State University #207 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions. Its lower peer price and affordability rank point in the same direction.

Fort Hays State University lists a published cost of attendance of $19,909, and aid-recipient prices differ across family-income bands. Average net price is $7,661 for the lowest band, $9,776 for the lower-middle band, $11,941 for the middle band, $14,266 for the upper-middle band, and $16,641 for the highest band.

The spread between the lowest and highest bands is $8,980. Azimuth ranks the public university #207 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

For the average aid recipient, aid covers about 37% of the published cost, an average reduction of $7,340. Across all aid recipients, the , what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $12,569.

That is $1,499 below the peer median of $14,068 for comparable institutions (same type and size). Published tuition is $5,923 for in-state students and $17,741 for out-of-state students, alongside $9,120 for room and board.

Lower-than-peer net price and the affordability ranking point in the same direction. Among borrowers who complete, median federal student loan debt is $21,000, and 84.8% of federal aid recipients borrow federal loans.

That median is $229 below the $21,229 peer median for comparable institutions (same type and size). The median Parent PLUS borrowing for parent borrowers is $11,833.

The median federal debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $239 a month if repaid over ten years.

Your family income

Choose a household income range to see estimated net price.

Reported average annual net price · $48–75K$11,941

After grants and scholarships. Your aid offer may differ.

Averages within each income band; individual aid packages vary.

Borrowing and repayment at Fort Hays State University

At Fort Hays State University, federal borrowing reaches 84.8% of federal aid recipients, so loan use is common. The peer median for comparable institutions (same type and size) is $21,229, with Fort Hays sitting $229 below that mark.

Separate parent borrowers have median Parent PLUS borrowing of $11,833.

Fort Hays State University shows its clearest financial strength in affordability, while its return measures remain close to peer and model benchmarks. Among federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled, median earnings are $56,419 four years after completion, placing them in Azimuth’s 37th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, stay near the model’s mark. Graduates earn about $422 more than the model expects for similar students, effectively at the expected level.

Azimuth places that measure in the 56th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Earnings scenarios range from $48,455 in a downside case to $70,465 in an upside case, with $56,419 as the typical scenario.

Median federal student loan debt is $21,000, which is $229 below the $21,229 peer median. That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $239 a month if repaid over ten years.

Earnings close to both benchmarks and debt below peers leave an even investment picture.

For the separate parent-borrower population, median Parent PLUS borrowing is $11,833. For student borrowers, that debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $239 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
$21,000
Institution Parent PLUS debt
$11,833

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

Estimated student payment · monthly
$239/mo
Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly
$150/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 / Fort Hays State University briefing

Fort Hays State University career outcomes & earnings[3][8][9]

Affordability is the stronger Azimuth pillar at Fort Hays State University, while the return picture stays close to the model’s expectation rather than showing a clear earnings edge. Azimuth puts its return pillar in the 47th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Graduates earn about $422 more than the model expects for similar students, effectively at the expected level. Earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, is in the 56th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The part the model attributes to the factors it measures adds $8,142. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $7,720.

Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $234. Federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $56,419 four years after completion, in the 37th percentile.

The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $57,301, with Fort Hays earnings $882 below it.

The median for federally aided graduates who are working and not enrolled is $56,419 four years after completing a degree at Fort Hays State University. That is $882 below the $57,301 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Azimuth places the figure in the 37th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions, drawn from an earnings cohort of 1,773 completers. Graduates earn about $422 more than the model expects for similar students, effectively at the expected level.

This measure tracks the distance between actual pay and the model's expectation for similar students. The result falls at the 56th percentile.

Earnings scenarios derived from the program mix range from $48,455 on the downside to $70,465 on the upside, with $56,419 as the typical outcome. An estimated 26.3% of graduates continue to graduate study, based on the program mix.

Four years after completion, Fort Hays State University completers have median earnings of $56,419, which sits in the 37th percentile. The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $57,301, with the university’s figure $882 below it.

Graduates earn about $422 more than the model expects for similar students, effectively at the expected level. Earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, is in the 56th percentile.

The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $8,142. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $7,720.

Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $234. Downside and upside earnings scenarios grounded in the program mix are $48,455 and $70,465.

Azimuth places the return pillar in the 47th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Program results range across the fields with the highest earnings and the largest degree counts.

Nursing has 129 degrees awarded and median earnings of $79,957 four years after completion. Computer Programming records 148 degrees awarded and $73,380 in median earnings.

Political Science, with 17 degrees awarded, reaches $72,384 and stands at 1.14x of the national median for its field. The largest program, Business Administration and Management, awards 950 degrees and has median earnings of $61,153.

These field-level figures show higher medians in some smaller programs alongside a much larger business program.

The modeled earnings range is wide enough that field choice deserves close attention. Scenarios run from $48,455 on the downside to $70,465 on the upside, with $56,419 as the typical earnings scenario; these are modeled from the program mix, not observed groups.

Among selected programs, median earnings four years after completion are $79,957 for Nursing, $73,380 for Computer Programming, and $72,384 for Political Science. Those program results help explain the spread between the earnings scenarios.

Affordability is the clearer part of the financial picture at Fort Hays State University. The average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $12,569, which is below the $14,068 peer median at comparable institutions (same type and size).

Aid covers about 37% of the published cost for the average aid recipient. Across income bands, average net price is $7,661 in the lowest band, $9,776 in the next band, $11,941 in the middle band, $14,266 in the next-highest band, and $16,641 in the highest band.

Borrowers who completed have median federal student loan debt of $21,000, below the $21,229 peer median at comparable institutions (same type and size). That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $239 a month if repaid over ten years.

Graduates earn about $422 more than the model expects for similar students, effectively at the expected level. Lower net price and lower debt align, while earnings remain close to the model’s expectation.

What explains value-added earnings?
Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.
+$8,142
Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.
-$7,720
Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.
+$422

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 / Fort Hays State University briefing

Fort Hays State University acceptance rate & admissions[1][10][11]

Fort Hays State University admitted 90.3% of applicants in the reported entering class, so the published rate indicates that most applicants received an offer. That rate is above the median of 85.9% for comparable institutions (same type and size).

SAT: approximate enrolled-student range
Admission rate
90.3%
Approximate lower endpoint
970
Reported average
1089
Approximate upper endpoint
1140

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 / Fort Hays State University briefing

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

At Fort Hays State University, four-year earnings vary sharply by field, so the school-level picture conceals distinct program results. Nursing posted median earnings of $79,957 four years after completion, with 129 degrees awarded.

Computer Programming recorded $73,380 and 148 degrees awarded, placing both among the higher-earning fields shown here. The more moderate-earning fields tell a different part of the story.

Teacher Education had median earnings of $45,190 four years after completion and 178 degrees awarded. Liberal Arts and General Studies recorded $53,176 across 174 degrees awarded.

The contrast between these fields and the higher-earning programs shows why a program-level earnings figure matters when reading the university’s overall return picture.

The leading program earnings span several fields, so the schoolwide figure does not tell the whole story. Field choice coincides with a wide spread in these published medians.

Fort Hays State University awards bachelor's degrees across 20 fields with published four-year earnings data. The degree mix is dominated by the Business family, which accounts for 42.4% of degrees awarded, with Education at 8.9% and Health Professions at 7.7% following at a distance.

The largest single program is Business Administration and Management, at 950 degrees awarded, followed by Finance with 233 and Teacher Education with 178. The highest-earning program is Nursing, where graduates earn a median of $79,957 four years after completion, from 129 degrees awarded.

Computer Programming is next at $73,380, with 148 degrees awarded. A much smaller program, Political Science, reports median earnings of $72,384 from just 17 degrees awarded, with a benchmark ratio of 1.14x against the national median for its field.

Business Administration and Management, the largest program, reports median earnings of $61,153. The pattern is a university built around a large business core, with the strongest earnings concentrated in a handful of professional programs.

Nursing and Computer Programming lead on pay, while the largest program by degrees sits below them. 11.4% of degrees awarded are in STEM fields, and the earnings picture is concentrated in the business and health professions families rather than spread across a broad technical base.

Four-year earnings · six largest reported fields
Business Administration, Management and Operations 950 degrees awarded
$61,153
Finance and Financial Management Services 233 degrees awarded
$64,524
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods 178 degrees awarded
$45,190
Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities 174 degrees awarded
$53,176
Economics 156 degrees awarded
Too few graduates to report
English Language and Literature/Letters, Other 151 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 / Fort Hays State University briefing

How does Fort Hays State University serve students from different backgrounds?

Completion outcomes are uneven between the overall first-time full-time cohort and Pell recipients. The six-year graduation rate is 47.7%, while Pell recipients complete within six years at 36.4%, below the overall rate by 11.3 percentage points.

Azimuth places the mobility pillar in the 58th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $422 more than the model expects for similar students, effectively at the expected level, placing earnings beyond expectations, the gap between graduate earnings and the model’s expectation for similar students, in the 56th percentile.

The completion gap and near-expected earnings give the mobility picture different contours.

Fort Hays State University admits 90.3% of applicants and enrolls 9,733 undergraduates, describing a broad entry point at this public university. Pell Grants reach 22.8% of undergraduates, a financial-access measure, and an estimated 61.0% of the undergraduate body arrives as transfers or part-time students.

Azimuth places the access pillar in the 43rd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. These measures show access through admission, financial aid reach, and transfer entry.

06 / Fort Hays State University briefing

What colleges are similar to Fort Hays 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 Fort Hays State University.

Admissions peerWichita State University94.0% admitted
Comparison with Fort Hays State University
MeasureFort Hays State UniversityWichita State University
Peer earnings · 4 years$56,419$59,707+$3,288 vs Fort Hays State University
Average annual net price$12,569$13,194+$625 vs Fort Hays State University · higher cost
Admission rate90.3%94.0%
Explore Wichita State University →
Nearby alternativeKansas Wesleyan UniversityNearby option · KS
Comparison with Fort Hays State University
MeasureFort Hays State UniversityKansas Wesleyan University
Peer earnings · 4 years$56,419$53,289-$3,130 vs Fort Hays State University
Average annual net price$12,569$22,671+$10,102 vs Fort Hays State University · higher cost
Admission rate90.3%71.9%
Higher-earnings alternativeSan Jose State University$89,614 earnings
Comparison with Fort Hays State University
MeasureFort Hays State UniversitySan Jose State University
Peer earnings · 4 years$56,419$89,614+$33,195 vs Fort Hays State University
Average annual net price$12,569$13,760+$1,191 vs Fort Hays State University · higher cost
Admission rate90.3%84.6%
Explore San Jose State University →
Lower-cost alternativeTrinity International University-Illinois$2,835 average net price
Comparison with Fort Hays State University
MeasureFort Hays State UniversityTrinity International University-Illinois
Peer earnings · 4 years$56,419$51,985-$4,434 vs Fort Hays State University
Average annual net price$12,569$2,835-$9,734 vs Fort Hays State University · lower cost
Admission rate90.3%100.0%
Similar profileUniversity of Wisconsin-WhitewaterMatched across several measures
Comparison with Fort Hays State University
MeasureFort Hays State UniversityUniversity of Wisconsin-Whitewater
Peer earnings · 4 years$56,419$58,704+$2,285 vs Fort Hays State University
Average annual net price$12,569$14,158+$1,589 vs Fort Hays State University · higher cost
Admission rate90.3%85.7%
Explore University of Wisconsin-Whitewater →

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