College Azimuth

Research brief & institution hub

Indiana University-Indianapolis

INLarge public institution · Overall rank #139 nationally

Data snapshot Updated

Azimuth ranks Indiana University-Indianapolis #139 nationally.

Who it’s a good fit for

Indiana University-Indianapolis is a public university in Indianapolis, Indiana, with a degree mix led by Health Professions, Business, and Engineering. Mobility is well above average.

Graduates out-earn what predicts for students like them. The model attributes part of that to the factors it measures, which adds to earnings, and the rest to a remainder it does not explain, which subtracts.

The typical graduate earns below the median at comparable schools, so the raw and adjusted results pull in opposite directions. Affordability is well above average, and the net price for the lowest income band sits well below the published cost, while the highest band pays closer to it.

Pell students complete below the rate for the entering cohort as a whole, and access is well above average. The admission rate is within a few points of the median for comparable schools.

Most graduates are estimated to go into work rather than on to further study, and the largest programs are not the best-paid ones.

Indiana University-Indianapolis at a glance

Admissions and outcomes

Admission rate[1]
76.4%
Six-year completion[2]
54.4%
Four-year earnings[3]
$64,616

Cost and family borrowing

Average annual net price · $48–75K family income[6]
$11,038
Median student debt[4]
$20,000
Median Parent PLUS debt[7]
$17,205

Indiana University-Indianapolis rankings: how Azimuth assesses value[5]

Indiana University-Indianapolis is a public university in Indianapolis, Indiana, enrolling 13,830 undergraduates. Its composite standing sits in the top tenth of the Azimuth ranking among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The university admits 76.4% of applicants, a rate close to the 78.1% median for comparable institutions of the same type and size. Among first-time, full-time students, 72.2% return for a second year and 54.4% complete within six years.

The peer medians, the midpoints for comparable institutions, are 83.1% for retention and 65.0% for completion. An estimated 27.6% of entrants arrive as transfers, so the six-year graduation rate reflects the first-time, full-time cohort and does not account for roughly a quarter of the entering class.

Mobility is the strongest and return is the weakest. Access and affordability sit between them, clustered near mobility, so three of the four pillars are grouped closely while return stands apart.

Indiana University-Indianapolis is strongest on mobility, where Azimuth places the university in the 89th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The access and affordability pillars are nearly as strong, at the 87th and 86th percentiles respectively.

The return pillar, at the 68th percentile, is the weakest of the four but still sits above the median for nonprofit four-year institutions.

At Indiana University-Indianapolis, the middle 50% of submitted SAT scores fell between 1,030 and 1,240. The middle 50% of submitted ACT scores fell between 21 and 29.

Pell recipients account for 37.3% of undergraduates. For access, Azimuth ranks the university #193 among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Pell recipients complete at 44.1%, which is below the overall rate (54.4%) by 10.3 percentage points. Azimuth ranks the university #164 for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Graduates earn about $4,609 more than the model expects for similar students, a pattern that coincides with the university's mobility standing.

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

Indiana University-Indianapolis rankings in context
GeographyRank
National#139

Azimuth overall value rankings within each geographic comparison group.

National pillar percentiles

Economic mobility
National percentile: 89
Access & reach
National percentile: 87
Affordability
National percentile: 86
Return on investment
National percentile: 68

Top-ranked majors

  1. Architectural Engineering Technologies/Technicians#3
  2. Business/Commerce, General#13
  3. Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians#14

This school’s three highest-ranked programs nationally. Each rank compares bachelor’s programs in the same field; field sizes differ.

Explore major rankings

01 / Indiana University-Indianapolis briefing

Indiana University-Indianapolis cost & financial aid[6][7]

Indiana University-Indianapolis publishes a cost of attendance of $23,316, an average across living arrangements. In-state tuition and fees are $10,762 and out-of-state are $34,891.

Room and board adds $13,308 to the sticker total. After grants and scholarships, the average net price—what aid recipients actually pay—drops to $11,668, a savings of $11,648 against the published cost.

That sits below the peer median of $15,634 for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $3,966. Azimuth ranks the university #201 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions. That places the affordability pillar in the 86th percentile.

Indiana University-Indianapolis publishes a cost of attendance of $23,316, an average across living arrangements. In-state tuition and fees are $10,762, and room and board are $13,308.

For families earning under $30,000, the average net price—what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships—is $5,701. For the $48,001–$75,000 band it is $11,038, and for families earning over $110,000 it is $20,680.

The spread between the lowest and highest bands is $14,979. Azimuth ranks the university #201 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Aid covers about 50% of the published cost for the average aid recipient, an offset of $11,648. The average net price across all aid recipients is $11,668, which sits below the peer median of $15,634 for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $3,966.

Out-of-state students face a higher tuition and fees figure of $34,891, though the net-price figures here are on an in-state basis. Graduates who borrow federal loans leave with a median federal student debt of $20,000, and about 78.0% of federal aid recipients take federal loans.

That debt is below the peer median of $20,076 by $76. For a graduate at the median four-year earnings, that debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $227 a month if repaid over ten years.

Parents who borrow through Parent PLUS carry a separate median of $17,205.

Your family income

Choose a household income range to see estimated net price.

Reported average annual net price · $48–75K$11,038

After grants and scholarships. Your aid offer may differ.

Averages within each income band; individual aid packages vary.

Borrowing and repayment at Indiana University-Indianapolis

Borrowers who finish at Indiana University-Indianapolis carry a median of $20,000 in federal student loans. That figure sits $76 below the $20,076 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

78.0% of federal aid recipients borrow federally. The debt distribution is broad.

Parents who borrow through the Parent PLUS program hold a separate median of $17,205.

Earnings at Indiana University-Indianapolis run above what the model predicts for similar students, yet the median sits below the peer benchmark. Four years after completion, the median for federally aided graduates who are working and not enrolled is $64,616, in the 65th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

That median is $994 below the $65,610 figure for comparable institutions (same type and size). Graduates earn about $4,609 more than the model expects for similar students.

That places the gap in the 70th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Earnings scenarios estimated from the program mix run from $47,198 on the downside to $84,387 on the upside, with $64,616 as the typical estimate.

Borrowers who complete leave with a median of $20,000 in federal loans, $76 below the median at comparable institutions (same type and size). That balance corresponds to an estimated payment of $227 a month if repaid over ten years.

Median Parent PLUS borrowing, a separate parent-borrower population, is $17,205. The estimated monthly student payment if repaid over ten years is $227.

How Financial GPS measures payment burden · The four risk-and-reward zones

Financial GPS

What does repayment look like?

Institution median student debt
$20,000
Institution Parent PLUS debt
$17,205

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

Estimated student payment · monthly
$227/mo
Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly
$219/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 / Indiana University-Indianapolis briefing

Indiana University-Indianapolis career outcomes & earnings[3][8][9]

Indiana University-Indianapolis shows a mixed return profile for graduates. The university's return pillar lands in the 68th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Graduates earn about $4,609 more than the model expects for similar students, a result in the 70th percentile. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $10,660.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $6,051. Within the measured factors, the STEM component subtracts $127.

Four years after completion, the median earnings for completers are $64,616, which lands in the 65th percentile nationally. That figure is below the peer median of $65,610—the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size)—by $994.

The return picture is mixed: graduates beat the model's expectation, but the median sits just below the peer benchmark.

Four years after completing their degrees, graduates of Indiana University-Indianapolis earn a median of $64,616, measured among federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled. That figure is based on a cohort of 5,636 completers and sits below the median of $65,610 for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Graduates earn about $4,609 more than the model expects for similar students, a result that places the university in the 70th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Earnings scenarios, anchored on the university's program mix, show a typical outcome matching the observed median, with a downside scenario of $47,198 and an upside scenario reaching $84,387.

An estimated 27.9% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure estimated from the program mix. The earnings picture is mixed: graduates beat the model's expectation, yet the median sits below the peer median.

Four years after completing a degree, federally aided graduates of Indiana University-Indianapolis who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $64,616. That is $994 below the $65,610 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Azimuth ranks the university #470 for return among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $4,609 more than the model expects for similar students.

That places the gap in the 70th percentile. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $10,660.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $6,051. Within the measured factors, the STEM component subtracts $127.

The earnings picture shifts with the field of study. The downside earnings scenario, estimated from the program mix, is $47,198, while the upside scenario reaches $84,387.

An estimated 27.9% of graduates continue to graduate study, based on the program mix.

The earnings scenarios at Indiana University-Indianapolis span from a downside of $47,198 to an upside of $84,387, with the typical scenario at $64,616. That range reflects the variation across the university's 47 programs with earnings data four years after completion.

The highest-earning programs show the upper end of the spread: Electrical Engineering completers earn a median of $97,841, Computer Engineering graduates reach $95,884, and Computer Science graduates earn $94,380.

The earnings picture at Indiana University-Indianapolis is mixed: graduates earn about $4,609 more than the model expects for similar students, but the median four-year earnings sit below the peer median. The average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $11,668, which is $3,966 below the median of $15,634 for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Borrowers who finish carry a median of $20,000 in federal student loans, $76 below the peer median. That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $227 a month if repaid over ten years.

Parents who borrow hold a separate median of $17,205 in Parent PLUS loans. Aid covers about 50% of the published cost for the average aid recipient, but this is an average rather than a personal quote.

The spread between the lowest and highest income bands is $14,979, so the net price a family sees depends heavily on where they fall in the income distribution.

What explains value-added earnings?
Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.
+$10,660
Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.
-$6,051
Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.
+$4,609

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 / Indiana University-Indianapolis briefing

Indiana University-Indianapolis acceptance rate & admissions[1][10][11]

Indiana University-Indianapolis admits 76.4% of applicants, a rate that sits just below the median of 78.1% for comparable institutions (same type and size). The university is a broadly accessible public university in Indianapolis, Indiana, and the admission rate reflects that open door.

SAT: approximate enrolled-student range
Admission rate
76.4%
Approximate lower endpoint
1030
Reported average
1139
Approximate upper endpoint
1240

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 / Indiana University-Indianapolis briefing

What are the largest majors at Indiana University-Indianapolis?[12]

Indiana University-Indianapolis awarded bachelor's degrees across 47 fields with published four-year earnings, and Azimuth ranks 36 of them nationally. The highest-earning program, Electrical Engineering, shows a median of $97,841 four years after completion, though it awarded only 30 degrees.

Computer Science follows at $94,380 with 88 degrees awarded. Nursing, the biggest with 652 degrees awarded, reaches $79,722 and an Azimuth national rank of #185.

Business/Commerce reports median earnings of $70,903 and a strong Azimuth national rank of #13 on 482 degrees awarded. Psychology graduates earn a median of $46,904 (Azimuth rank #241 nationally) on 223 degrees awarded.

The contrast between the top-earning programs and these moderate-earning fields reflects the spread in returns that students see depending on their major.

Indiana University-Indianapolis has 36 nationally ranked bachelor's programs. Architectural Engineering Technologies/Technicians is the university's highest-ranked field nationally at #3, ranking #2 in Indiana with 38 degrees awarded.

Completers in that program earn a median of $87,114 four years after completion. The biggest program is Nursing, with 652 degrees awarded, ranking #185 nationally and #3 in Indiana.

Those completers earn a median of $79,722 four years after completion. Business/Commerce ranks #13 nationally and #3 in Indiana, with 482 degrees awarded.

Business/Commerce completers earn a median of $70,903 four years after completion. Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians ranks #14 nationally and #3 in Indiana with 52 degrees awarded.

Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians completers show a median of $85,533 four years after completion.

The bachelor's degrees at Indiana University-Indianapolis are anchored in health and business, with Health Professions accounting for 24.2% of degrees awarded and Business for 15.2%. Engineering is a smaller but notable slice at 6.2%.

Across 47 programs with published four-year earnings data, 36 hold an Azimuth national rank. The largest program is Nursing, at 652 degrees awarded, followed by Business/Commerce at 482 and Psychology at 223.

The strongest programs by national rank are spread across several fields. Architectural Engineering Technologies/Technicians is the highest-ranked, and Azimuth places it #2 in Indiana within its field with median earnings of $87,114 four years after completion.

Business/Commerce ranks #13 nationally and #3 in Indiana within its field, from 482 degrees awarded. Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians ranks #14 nationally within its field with 52 degrees awarded, and Security Science and Technology ranks #15 nationally within its field with 39 degrees awarded.

The highest-earning program is Electrical Engineering, where graduates earn a median of $97,841, followed by Computer Engineering at $95,884, though both are small, at 30 and 27 degrees awarded. The pattern is one of concentrated strength in professional fields rather than a single dominant department.

The largest program, Nursing, is not the highest-earning, and the highest-earning programs are among the smallest. A student drawn to the health professions, which award nearly a quarter of all degrees, will find a range of outcomes.

The largest health program is Nursing at $79,722, while the smaller Business/Commerce program carries a stronger national rank. The engineering programs that lead in earnings are a small share of total output, and 9.3% of degrees overall are in STEM fields.

Four-year earnings · six largest reported fields
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing 652 degrees awarded
$79,722
Business/Commerce, General 482 degrees awarded
$70,903
Psychology, General 223 degrees awarded
$46,904
Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities 188 degrees awarded
$51,718
Biology, General 174 degrees awarded
$56,830
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods 167 degrees awarded
$49,540

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 / Indiana University-Indianapolis briefing

How does Indiana University-Indianapolis serve students from different backgrounds?

Students who complete their degrees at Indiana University-Indianapolis earn about $4,609 more than the model expects for similar students. That result, earnings beyond expectations — the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students — falls in the 70th percentile.

Azimuth places the university in the 89th percentile for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions. The first-time full-time cohort posts a six-year graduation rate of 54.4%, and Pell recipients complete at 44.1%, trailing the overall rate by 10.3 percentage points.

Indiana University-Indianapolis serves 13,830 undergraduates, and 37.3% of them receive Pell Grants, a measure of financial access. The university's access pillar is in the 87th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The public university admits 76.4% of applicants, a rate close to the peer median of 78.1% — the middle value for comparable institutions — and an estimated 27.6% of undergraduates enter as transfers or part-time students.

06 / Indiana University-Indianapolis briefing

What colleges are similar to Indiana University-Indianapolis?[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 Indiana University-Indianapolis.

Admissions peerFranklin College69.8% admitted
Comparison with Indiana University-Indianapolis
MeasureIndiana University-IndianapolisFranklin College
Peer earnings · 4 years$64,616$53,224-$11,392 vs Indiana University-Indianapolis
Average annual net price$11,668$22,855+$11,187 vs Indiana University-Indianapolis · higher cost
Admission rate76.4%69.8%
Explore Franklin College →
Higher-admission alternativeIndiana Wesleyan University-Marion88.9% admitted
Comparison with Indiana University-Indianapolis
MeasureIndiana University-IndianapolisIndiana Wesleyan University-Marion
Peer earnings · 4 years$64,616$68,838+$4,222 vs Indiana University-Indianapolis
Average annual net price$11,668$22,866+$11,198 vs Indiana University-Indianapolis · higher cost
Admission rate76.4%88.9%
Explore Indiana Wesleyan University-Marion →
Nearby alternativeIndiana Wesleyan University-MarionNearby option · IN
Comparison with Indiana University-Indianapolis
MeasureIndiana University-IndianapolisIndiana Wesleyan University-Marion
Peer earnings · 4 years$64,616$68,838+$4,222 vs Indiana University-Indianapolis
Average annual net price$11,668$22,866+$11,198 vs Indiana University-Indianapolis · higher cost
Admission rate76.4%88.9%
Explore Indiana Wesleyan University-Marion →
Higher-earnings alternativeHoly Family University$82,892 earnings
Comparison with Indiana University-Indianapolis
MeasureIndiana University-IndianapolisHoly Family University
Peer earnings · 4 years$64,616$82,892+$18,276 vs Indiana University-Indianapolis
Average annual net price$11,668$13,143+$1,475 vs Indiana University-Indianapolis · higher cost
Admission rate76.4%71.0%
Explore Holy Family University →
Lower-cost alternativeIndiana University-East$8,134 average net price
Comparison with Indiana University-Indianapolis
MeasureIndiana University-IndianapolisIndiana University-East
Peer earnings · 4 years$64,616$58,030-$6,586 vs Indiana University-Indianapolis
Average annual net price$11,668$8,134-$3,534 vs Indiana University-Indianapolis · lower cost
Admission rate76.4%67.2%
Explore Indiana University-East →
Similar profileKansas State UniversityMatched across several measures
Comparison with Indiana University-Indianapolis
MeasureIndiana University-IndianapolisKansas State University
Peer earnings · 4 years$64,616$64,711+$95 vs Indiana University-Indianapolis
Average annual net price$11,668$19,406+$7,738 vs Indiana University-Indianapolis · higher cost
Admission rate76.4%81.7%
Explore Kansas State University →

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