College Azimuth

Research brief & institution hub

Kean University

NJLarge public institution · Overall rank #140 nationally

Data snapshot Updated

Overall, Kean University sits in Azimuth’s 91st percentile.

Who it’s a good fit for

Kean University is a public university in Union, New Jersey, where Business, Psychology, and Biological Sciences account for nearly half of all degrees. Access is among the highest we track and mobility is among the highest we track.

Graduates earn less than predicts for students like them, and the typical graduate earns below the median at comparable schools. The model adds for the factors it measures—field of study, enrollment, and the local labor market—and subtracts for what it cannot explain.

Pell recipients complete at a rate above the entering cohort as a whole, and the lowest income band pays well under the published cost. The spread between the lowest and highest bands is modest.

The admission rate is below the median for comparable schools, 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—Nursing and Computer and Information Sciences—are much smaller.

Kean University at a glance

Admissions and outcomes

Admission rate[1]
75.9%
Six-year completion[2]
46.6%
Four-year earnings[3]
$59,472

Cost and family borrowing

Average annual net price · $48–75K family income[6]
$12,136
Median student debt[4]
$23,250
Median Parent PLUS debt[7]
$22,000

Kean University rankings: how Azimuth assesses value[5]

Kean University is a public university in Union, New Jersey, enrolling 11,433 undergraduates. The university admits 75.9% of applicants, a rate close to the 78.1% median for comparable institutions of the same type and size.

Its composite standing is in the top tenth of the Azimuth ranking among nonprofit four-year institutions. Of students who start full time, 76.1% return for a second year and 46.6% finish within six years.

Both figures run below the medians for comparable institutions of the same type and size, which are 83.1% for retention and 65.0% for completion. An estimated 43.9% of entrants arrive as transfers or part-time students, and the six-year rate describes only the first-time full-time cohort.

The four are spread wide. Access and mobility are the strongest, while return is the weakest.

Affordability sits between them. The shape is a broad-access public campus where the strongest pillars sit well above the return pillar.

Access is the clearest strength at Kean University for readers comparing broad institutional profiles. Among nonprofit four-year institutions, access stands in the 93rd percentile, its strongest pillar.

Mobility is in the 92nd percentile, and affordability is in the 77th percentile. Return, the weakest pillar, is in the 45th percentile.

The middle 50% of submitted SAT scores fell between 930 and 1,150, and Pell Grants reach 47.9% of undergraduates. Among Pell recipients in the first-time full-time cohort, six-year completion is 55.1%, 8.5 percentage points above the rate for the entering cohort as a whole (46.6%).

For access, Azimuth places the university at #109 among nonprofit four-year institutions. Azimuth ranks the university #119 for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Graduates earn about $332 less than the model expects for similar students, effectively at the expected level.

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

Kean University rankings in context
GeographyRank
National#140

Azimuth overall value rankings within each geographic comparison group.

National pillar percentiles

Economic mobility
National percentile: 92
Access & reach
National percentile: 93
Affordability
National percentile: 77
Return on investment
National percentile: 45

Top-ranked majors

  1. Science Technologies/Technicians, Other#3
  2. Computer Systems Networking and Telecommunications#4
  3. Special Education and Teaching#12

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 / Kean University briefing

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

For aid recipients, Kean University has an average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, of $12,447. That figure is $3,187 below the peer median of $15,634, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size).

The published cost of attendance for a standard budget is $26,949 (an average across living arrangements). In-state tuition and fees are $14,299, out-of-state tuition and fees are $22,446, and room and board are $18,264.

Aid offsets the published cost by $14,502 on average for aid recipients. Azimuth places the affordability pillar in the 77th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

A lower than comparable institutions and that affordability standing point in the same direction.

The published cost of attendance at Kean University is $26,949 (an average across living arrangements). Azimuth ranks the university #332 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $7,374 in the lowest family-income band, $7,859 in the lower-middle band, $12,136 in the middle band, $20,146 in the upper-middle band, and $20,110 in the highest band. The spread between the lowest and highest bands is $12,736.

Aid covers about 54% of the published cost for the average aid recipient, bringing the average net price across all bands to $12,447. That is $3,187 below the $15,634 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Borrowers who finish carry a median of $23,250 in federal student loans, $3,174 above the peer median of $20,076. 85.7% of federal aid recipients borrow federal loans.

Parents who borrow hold a separate median of $22,000 in Parent PLUS loans. If repaid over ten years, the median federal student debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $264 a month.

Your family income

Choose a household income range to see estimated net price.

Reported average annual net price · $48–75K$12,136

After grants and scholarships. Your aid offer may differ.

Averages within each income band; individual aid packages vary.

Borrowing and repayment at Kean University

Borrowing is widespread at Kean University, so federal debt is an important part of its cost picture. Among federal-loan borrowers who complete, median federal student loan debt is $23,250.

Federal loans are used by 85.7% of federal aid recipients. Comparable institutions (same type and size) have a peer median federal debt of $20,076, with Kean’s median $3,174 above that figure.

The difference points to somewhat higher borrowing at completion than at its peers. For Parent PLUS parent borrowers, a separate population, median borrowing is $22,000.

Access is Kean University’s strongest pillar, but the financial return picture is mixed. Federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled have median earnings of $59,472 four years after completion.

That figure is in the 49th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, sit in the 53rd percentile according to Azimuth.

Graduates earn about $332 less than the model expects for similar students, effectively at the expected level. The downside earnings scenario is $50,435, the typical scenario is $59,472, and the upside scenario is $74,121.

Median federal debt is $23,250, which is $3,174 above the $20,076 peer median for comparable institutions (same type and size). That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $264 a month if repaid over ten years. Earnings near the model’s expectation sit alongside debt above the peer median.

Parent borrowers using Parent PLUS have median borrowing of $22,000, a separate federal population from student borrowers. For completers with median federal student debt, that debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $264 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
$23,250
Institution Parent PLUS debt
$22,000

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

Estimated student payment · monthly
$264/mo
Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly
$280/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 / Kean University briefing

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

At Kean University, return is a more qualified part of the picture than access. Azimuth places the return pillar in the 45th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Graduates earn about $332 less 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, sits in the 53rd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The part the model attributes to the factors it measures adds $7,185. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $7,517.

Federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $59,472 four years after completion; Azimuth places that figure in the 49th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $65,610, leaving earnings below that benchmark by $6,138.

Median earnings sit below peers, while the model result is effectively at its expected level.

At $59,472, Kean University’s median earnings four years after completion sit near the middle of the national distribution for federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled. Azimuth places that measure in the 49th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions, based on an earnings cohort of 3,198 completers.

Earnings scenarios based on the program mix put downside earnings at $50,435, typical earnings at $59,472, and upside earnings at $74,121. These are scenarios rather than observed graduate groups, so they describe the range associated with different program mixes.

Graduates earn about $332 less than the model expects for similar students, effectively at the expected level. An estimated 31.6% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure estimated from the program mix.

Near-expected earnings and the modeled scenario range leave the program mix as an important part of the earnings picture.

Kean University graduates earn a median of $59,472 four years after completion among federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled, placing them at the 49th percentile. Comparable institutions (same type and size) show a median of $65,610, putting this figure $6,138 below the peer median.

For return, Azimuth ranks Kean University #811 among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $332 less than the model expects for similar students, effectively at the expected level.

That outcome lands at the 53rd percentile. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $7,185.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $7,517. Among the measured factors, the STEM component adds $736.

The university's degrees cluster heavily in business, psychology and the biological sciences, while STEM fields account for 14.5% of awards. Earnings scenarios estimated from that program mix run from $50,435 on the lower end to $74,121 on the higher end.

Based on the program mix, an estimated 31.6% of graduates continue on to graduate study.

The earnings picture varies widely by field at Kean University. Earnings scenarios span from $50,435 on the downside to $74,121 on the upside; these are scenarios based on program mix, not observed groups of graduates.

Costs are relatively low here, but borrower debt sits higher than the comparable-institution median. For first-time, full-time federal aid recipients at Kean University, the average net price is $12,447, what they pay after grants and scholarships.

That figure is below the $15,634 peer median at comparable institutions (same type and size) by $3,187. Borrowers who completed had median federal student loan debt of $23,250, which is above the peer median by $3,174.

That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $264 a month if repaid over ten years. Aid covers about 54% of the published cost for the average aid recipient.

Graduates earn about $332 less than the model expects for similar students, effectively at the expected level. The lower net price sits alongside debt above the peer median and earnings near the model’s expected level.

What explains value-added earnings?
Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.
+$7,185
Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.
-$7,517
Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.
-$332

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 / Kean University briefing

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

Kean University admitted 75.9% of applicants in the reported entering class, below the median of 78.1% for comparable institutions (same type and size). Put plainly, the figure is the share of that year's applicants offered admission, rather than a forecast for an individual decision.

SAT: approximate enrolled-student range
Admission rate
75.9%
Approximate lower endpoint
930
Reported average
1040
Approximate upper endpoint
1150

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 / Kean University briefing

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

Across larger fields at Kean University, earnings differ four years after completion, so a program can matter more than the institutional return picture. Business Administration and Management records median earnings of $65,332 and 281 degrees awarded; Azimuth ranks it #195 nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions in its field.

Biology posts $61,291 with 218 degrees awarded and an Azimuth rank of #121 nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions in its field. Psychology has median earnings of $51,052 across 359 degrees awarded; Azimuth places it #140 nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions in its field.

The figures separate the higher-earning business and biology fields from the more moderate psychology result.

Azimuth identifies 23 nationally ranked bachelor’s fields at the university, with Science Technologies/Technicians holding the highest placement.

Business accounts for 23.1% of bachelor's degrees awarded at Kean University, with Psychology next at 15.3% and Biological Sciences at 9.0%. The university has 23 programs with an Azimuth national rank and 30 with published four-year earnings data.

The largest single program is Psychology, at 359 degrees awarded, followed by Business Administration and Management at 281 and Biology at 218. The highest-ranked program is Science Technologies/Technicians, which awards 37 degrees a year and ranks #1 in New Jersey within its field.

Computer Systems Networking and Telecommunications ranks #4 nationally and #1 in New Jersey within its field, with 63 degrees awarded and median earnings of $72,483 four years after completion. The highest-earning program is Nursing, where graduates earn a median of $96,821 four years out, from 41 degrees awarded.

Teacher Education carries a benchmark ratio of 1.24x against the national median for its field, with median earnings of $58,885. The pattern is one of strength spread across several fields rather than concentrated in a single area.

The largest programs are in social sciences and business, while the strongest ranks sit in Science Technologies/Technicians and Computer Systems Networking and Telecommunications. 14.5% of degrees awarded are in STEM, and the highest-earning programs are mostly outside the largest degree families.

Four-year earnings · six largest reported fields
Psychology, General 359 degrees awarded
$51,052
Business Administration, Management and Operations 281 degrees awarded
$65,332
Biology, General 218 degrees awarded
$61,291
Criminal Justice and Corrections 155 degrees awarded
$58,644
Communication and Media Studies 128 degrees awarded
$54,277
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods 116 degrees awarded
$58,885

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 / Kean University briefing

How does Kean University serve students from different backgrounds?

At Kean University, Pell recipients in the first-time full-time cohort complete within six years at 55.1%, above the 46.6% six-year graduation rate for that cohort by 8.5 percentage points. This pattern is central to the university’s mobility picture.

Azimuth places the mobility pillar in the 92nd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $332 less than the model expects for similar students, effectively at the expected level.

Azimuth places earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, in the 53rd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Pell completion is stronger than the cohort rate, while earnings remain effectively at the expected level.

Kean University offers broad entry, admitting 75.9% of applicants and enrolling 11,433 undergraduates. Pell Grant recipients make up 47.9% of undergraduates, and the estimated share of entrants outside the first-time, full-time group is 43.9%.

Azimuth places the university’s access pillar in the 93rd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Its Pell representation and transfer estimate sit alongside that high access standing.

06 / Kean University briefing

What colleges are similar to Kean 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 Kean University.

Admissions peerCentenary University83.1% admitted
Comparison with Kean University
MeasureKean UniversityCentenary University
Peer earnings · 4 years$59,472$63,207+$3,735 vs Kean University
Average annual net price$12,447$20,503+$8,056 vs Kean University · higher cost
Admission rate75.9%83.1%
Higher-admission alternativeStockton University88.9% admitted
Comparison with Kean University
MeasureKean UniversityStockton University
Peer earnings · 4 years$59,472$58,872-$600 vs Kean University
Average annual net price$12,447$20,670+$8,223 vs Kean University · higher cost
Admission rate75.9%88.9%
Explore Stockton University →
Nearby alternativeMontclair State UniversityNearby option · NJ
Comparison with Kean University
MeasureKean UniversityMontclair State University
Peer earnings · 4 years$59,472$61,351+$1,879 vs Kean University
Average annual net price$12,447$15,566+$3,119 vs Kean University · higher cost
Admission rate75.9%87.9%
Explore Montclair State University →
Higher-earnings alternativeHoly Family University$82,892 earnings
Comparison with Kean University
MeasureKean UniversityHoly Family University
Peer earnings · 4 years$59,472$82,892+$23,420 vs Kean University
Average annual net price$12,447$13,143+$696 vs Kean University · higher cost
Admission rate75.9%71.0%
Explore Holy Family University →
Lower-cost alternativeCUNY Brooklyn College$3,103 average net price
Comparison with Kean University
MeasureKean UniversityCUNY Brooklyn College
Peer earnings · 4 years$59,472$62,833+$3,361 vs Kean University
Average annual net price$12,447$3,103-$9,344 vs Kean University · lower cost
Admission rate75.9%58.4%
Explore CUNY Brooklyn College →
Similar profileCUNY John Jay College of Criminal JusticeMatched across several measures
Comparison with Kean University
MeasureKean UniversityCUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice
Peer earnings · 4 years$59,472$60,020+$548 vs Kean University
Average annual net price$12,447$3,203-$9,244 vs Kean University · lower cost
Admission rate75.9%57.1%
Explore CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice →

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