KS · Large public institution · Overall rank #342 nationally
Data snapshot · Updated
Azimuth ranks Kansas State University #342 nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions.
Who it’s a good fit for
Kansas State University is a public university in Manhattan, Kansas, where Business, Agriculture & Natural Resources, and Engineering lead the degree mix. Mobility is well above average.
Graduates out-earn what predicts for students like them. The model attributes a gain to the factors it measures—field of study, enrollment and the local labor market—and a loss to what it cannot explain.
Pell students complete at a rate below the overall cohort. The lowest income band pays well under the published cost, while the highest pays closer to it.
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 the best-paid ones are not the largest.
Kansas State University rankings: how Azimuth assesses value[5]
At its campus in Manhattan, Kansas, Kansas State University enrolls 15,142 undergraduates as a public university. The university sits in the upper quarter of nonprofit four-year institutions (77th percentile).
Of those who apply to Kansas State University, 81.7% receive an offer, a figure that compares with the 78.1% median among comparable institutions. Among full-time first-year students, 85.6% continue into a second year, while the peer median is 83.1%.
For the first-time full-time cohort, 71.1% finish within six years, next to a peer median of 65.0%. An estimated 26.7% of the entering class arrives as transfers or part-time students, so many undergraduates did not begin their studies here.
Mobility is the strongest of the four (81st percentile), while affordability is the weakest (59th percentile). Return and access sit between them, with return at the 71st percentile and access at the 61st percentile.
The four are spread across a wide band, with mobility standing apart from the other three.
Mobility is the strongest pillar for Kansas State University, in the 81st percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The return pillar follows at the 71st percentile, access at the 61st percentile, and affordability at the 59th percentile.
Affordability is the weakest pillar, though all four sit above the median for nonprofit four-year institutions. Azimuth ranks the university #342 among 1,467 institutions nationally.
Pell Grant recipients, a measure of financial access to the university, make up 20.7% of the undergraduate population at Kansas State University. Azimuth places the university at #580 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions.
The six-year completion rate for Pell recipients in the first-time full-time cohort is 55.3%, trailing the rate for the entering cohort as a whole by 15.8 percentage points. For mobility, Azimuth ranks the university #275 among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $2,477 more than the model expects for similar students.
The published cost of attendance at Kansas State University is $27,402. In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported in-state tuition of $10,601 and required fees of $978 for the 2026-27 academic year, with on-campus food and housing at $11,520.
Out-of-state students face tuition of $28,555. After grants and scholarships, the average net price for aid recipients is $19,406, which is $3,772 above the $15,634 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).
Financial aid reduces the published cost by $7,996 on average. Azimuth ranks the university #584 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.
The published cost of attendance at Kansas State University is $27,402. For families earning under $30,000, the average net price—what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships—is $13,178.
For the middle band, families earning $48,001–$75,000, it is $15,369, and for families earning over $110,000 it is $23,665. The spread between the lowest and highest bands is $10,487.
Azimuth ranks the university #584 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions. Aid covers about 29% of the published cost for the average aid recipient, an offset of $7,996 against the sticker price.
The across all aid recipients is $19,406, which is above the peer median of $15,634 for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $3,772. The median federal student debt at completion is $21,250.
About 89.5% of federal aid recipients borrow federal loans. That median is above the peer median of $20,076 by $1,174.
For parents, the median Parent PLUS borrowing is $27,283. The median federal student debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $242 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$15,369
After grants and scholarships. Your aid offer may differ.
Averages within each income band; individual aid packages vary.
Borrowing and repayment at Kansas State University
Federal borrowing is widespread at Kansas State University: 89.5% of federal aid recipients take federal loans. Among completers, the median federal student debt is $21,250.
That median is above the $20,076 median at comparable institutions (same type and size) by $1,174. Parent borrowers, a separate population, carry a median Parent PLUS loan of $27,283.
In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported that 47% of a cohort of 2,199 bachelor's graduates borrowed from any source. The average cumulative debt per borrower was $25,718.
Of all graduates, 46% held federal loans averaging $19,442. A smaller group, 9% of graduates, took on private loans, where the average was $37,070.
Four years after completion, graduates of Kansas State University earn a median of $64,711, which places the university in the 65th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. They earn about $2,477 more than the model expects for similar students, an outcome that falls in the 64th percentile nationally.
Earnings scenarios derived from the university's program mix show a typical earnings level of $64,711, with a downside scenario of $48,227 and an upside scenario of $88,655. The median federal student debt at completion is $21,250, which is above the $20,076 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).
That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $242 a month if repaid over ten years. Earnings that beat the model's expectation and a debt level that runs only slightly above the peer median point in the same direction.
The return picture here is solid, with the typical graduate's earnings providing a comfortable margin over the modeled loan payment.
Median Parent PLUS borrowing, a separate parent-borrower population, is $27,283. The estimated monthly student payment if repaid over ten years is $242.
Federal loans only; private or institutional loans aren’t included.
Estimated student payment · monthly
$242/mo
Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly
$347/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.
Graduates of Kansas State University earn about $2,477 more than the model expects for similar students, a result in the 64th percentile for earnings beyond expectations. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $11,089.
The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $8,612. Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $2,375.
Four years after completion, the median earnings of $64,711 land in the 65th percentile nationally. That figure is below the peer median of $65,610 for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $899.
Azimuth places the return pillar in the 71st percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The and a median that trails the peer group pull in different directions, so the return picture depends on the program a student chooses.
The median for Kansas State University graduates four years after completion is $64,711, measured among federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled. That is $899 below the $65,610 median at comparable institutions (same type and size).
The earnings cohort behind that figure is 4,218 completers. Among nonprofit four-year institutions, that median lands in the 65th percentile.
Measured against what the model predicts for similar students, Kansas State University graduates earn about $2,477 more than the model expects for similar students. That result sits at the 64th percentile.
Earnings scenarios estimated from the program mix show a typical outcome of $64,711, a downside of $48,227, and an upside of $88,655. An estimated 27.0% of graduates continue to graduate study, based on the program mix.
The earnings picture is mixed: the median sits below the peer median, yet graduates out-earn what the model predicts for similar students.
Four years after completing a bachelor's degree at Kansas State University, graduates earn a median of $64,711, which places the university in the 65th percentile nationally. That figure sits below the peer median of $65,610 for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $899.
Graduates earn about $2,477 more than the model expects for similar students, a result that lands in the 64th percentile. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $11,089.
The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $8,612. Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $2,375.
Earnings scenarios grounded in the program mix show a downside of $48,227 and an upside of $88,655. Azimuth ranks the university #420 for return on investment among nonprofit four-year institutions.
The program-level picture is anchored by a set of nationally competitive fields. Animal Sciences is the largest program, with 238 degrees awarded and a median of $50,941 four years after completion.
Azimuth ranks it #16 nationally and #1 in Kansas. Mechanical Engineering awards 182 degrees and its completers earn a median of $88,533, ranking #1 in the state.
The highest-earning program is Computer and Information Sciences, with 105 degrees awarded and a median of $107,194, ranking #1 in Kansas. Natural Resources Conservation and Research stands out with a national rank of #15 among nonprofit four-year institutions. Its earnings of $72,398 are 1.32x the national median for its field.
The earnings scenarios point to a wide range: from $48,227 on the downside to $88,655 on the upside. These are scenarios estimated from the program mix, not observed groups of graduates.
At the upper end, Computer and Information Sciences graduates report median earnings of $107,194 four years after completion, from 105 degrees awarded a year. Electrical Engineering follows at $95,640, and the largest program, Animal Sciences, awards 238 degrees and posts a median of $50,941.
Graduates of Kansas State University earn about $2,477 more than the model expects for similar students. The median federal student debt for borrowers who complete a degree is $21,250, which runs above the median of $20,076 for comparable institutions (same type and size).
If repaid over ten years, that debt corresponds to an estimated monthly payment of $242. The average net price for aid recipients, what they pay after grants and scholarships, is $19,406, which sits above the peer median of $15,634.
Parent PLUS borrowers, a separate population, carry a median of $27,283. Earnings that beat the model's expectation coincide with a debt load only slightly above the peer median and a monthly payment under three hundred dollars. The average net price, however, runs higher than at comparable schools.
What explains value-added earnings?
Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.
+$11,089
Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.
-$8,612
Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.
+$2,477
These are statistical model components, not proven causal effects; the remainder is not a direct measure of teaching quality.
Kansas State University admits 81.7% of applicants, a rate that sits close to the median of 78.1% for comparable institutions (same type and size). The university's 2025-26 Common Data Set lists first-year admission counts.
There were 15,591 applicants, 13,642 admitted students, and 3,775 enrolled students.
SAT: reported composite scores
Admission rate
81.7%
25th percentile
1040
Median
1140
75th percentile
1260
CDS 2025-26 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.
The university's largest programs span a wide earnings range, from Animal Sciences at $50,941 to Mechanical Engineering at $88,533 four years after completion. Animal Sciences, the biggest by degrees awarded with 238, ranks #16 nationally in its field.
Mechanical Engineering awarded 182 degrees and ranks #141 nationally. The highest-earning program overall, Computer and Information Sciences, reaches a median of $107,194 and ranks #58 nationally with 105 degrees awarded.
Business Administration and Management sits in the middle of the largest programs, with median earnings of $69,735 and 178 degrees awarded, ranking #160 nationally. The contrast between the highest-earning field and the largest program shows how earnings vary by field at the university.
Kansas State University publishes earnings data for 59 bachelor's programs, 46 of which hold an Azimuth national rank. Three programs land in the national top ten.
Natural Sciences ranks #3 with 67 degrees awarded and a median of $68,243 four years after completion. Food Science and Technology ranks #6 with 34 degrees awarded and a median of $78,367 four years after completion.
Architectural Engineering ranks #7 with 38 degrees awarded and a median of $91,336 four years after completion. Among the largest programs, Animal Sciences awarded 238 degrees, ranks #16 nationally, and its completers earn a median of $50,941.
Mechanical Engineering awarded 182 degrees, ranks #141 nationally, and its completers earn a median of $88,533. Business Administration and Management awarded 178 degrees, ranks #160 nationally, and shows a median of $69,735.
Kansas State University awards bachelor's degrees across 46 programs with an Azimuth national rank and 59 with published four-year earnings data. The program mix is anchored by Business, which accounts for 20.2% of degrees awarded, followed by Agriculture & Natural Resources at 12.2% and Engineering at 12.0%.
The largest single programs are Animal Sciences at 238 degrees awarded, Teacher Education at 224, and Mechanical Engineering at 182. The highest-ranked program is Natural Sciences, ranking #1 in Kansas within its field.
It awards 67 degrees a year and graduates earn a median of $68,243 four years after completion. Food Science and Technology is another standout, ranking #6 nationally and #1 in Kansas within its field, with 34 degrees awarded and median earnings of $78,367.
The highest-earning program is Computer and Information Sciences, where graduates earn a median of $107,194 four years out, from 105 degrees awarded a year. Azimuth ranks it #58 nationally and #1 in Kansas within its field.
Construction Engineering Technology/Technician is a smaller program at 69 degrees awarded, but it ranks #20 nationally and #1 in Kansas within its field, with median earnings of $91,809. The university also has a high-return program in Natural Resources Conservation and Research, with a benchmark ratio of 1.32x against the national median for its field.
Across all fields, 24.4% of degrees awarded are in STEM. The pattern is one of concentrated strength in agriculture and engineering-related fields, with the highest-ranked and highest-earning programs often sitting outside the largest degree producers.
Four-year earnings · six largest reported fields
Animal Sciences 238 degrees awarded
$50,941
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods 224 degrees awarded
$46,562
Mechanical Engineering 182 degrees awarded
$88,533
Business Administration, Management and Operations 178 degrees awarded
$69,735
Finance and Financial Management Services 178 degrees awarded
$75,705
Nutrition Sciences 163 degrees awarded
$62,128
Fields selected by reported completions. Counts describe credentials awarded, not unique students or the earnings sample. Bars show median four-year earnings.
How does Kansas State University serve students from different backgrounds?
The mobility pillar is the strongest for Kansas State University. Among nonprofit four-year institutions, Azimuth ranks it #275 on that pillar.
That places it in the 81st percentile. The six-year graduation rate for the first-time full-time cohort is 71.1%, and Pell recipients complete at 55.3% — a figure below the overall rate by 15.8 percentage points.
Graduates earn about $2,477 more than the model expects for similar students. That result sits in the 64th percentile for earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students.
The university's graduation rate and higher-than-expected earnings point the same way for completers.
Kansas State University admits 81.7% of applicants, a rate that sits above the peer median of 78.1%, the middle value for comparable institutions, and reflects its open-access posture as a public university in Manhattan, Kansas. The university enrolls 15,142 undergraduates, with an estimated 26.7% entering as transfers or part-time students.
Pell Grant recipients represent 20.7% of the undergraduate body. The access pillar ranks in the 61st percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.
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 Kansas State University.
Admissions peerWayne State University81.2% admitted+
Comparison with Kansas State University
Measure
Kansas State University
Wayne State University
Peer earnings · 4 years
$64,711
$68,551+$3,840 vs Kansas State University
Average annual net price
$19,406
$12,766-$6,640 vs Kansas State University · lower cost
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.
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.
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.
Admission rate. Reported applicants admitted; not a transfer-specific or individual admission probability.
Source fields: ADM_RATE
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
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
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
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
First-year retention. Retention of the reported full-time cohort at four-year institutions.
Source fields: RET_FT4
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.
Pell recipients. Share of undergraduates receiving a Pell Grant in the reported academic year.
Source fields: PCTPELL
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
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