How this school serves students from different economic backgrounds, including Pell students, first-generation pathways, and long-term mobility outcomes.
Oregon State University admits about 77.3% of applicants. Among enrolled undergraduates, 22.8% receive Pell Grants and 31.4% are first-generation college students — a meaningful share for a research university of this scale. Transfer enrollment is substantial, at 43.3%, reflecting Oregon State's role as a destination for students who begin their academic path elsewhere and seek a university with broad program depth and workforce reach. The middle 50% of admitted students who submitted scores fell between 1,140 and 1,400 on the SAT (interquartile range), and between 24 and 31 on the ACT. Azimuth ranks Oregon State University #361 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions. That position reflects both the breadth of the institution's admission funnel and the share of students it enrolls from Pell-eligible and first-generation backgrounds, two groups that are often underrepresented at research universities with strong engineering and STEM identities. What matters alongside access is what happens after students arrive. The six-year graduation rate is 70.1%, and 55.2% of Pell-eligible students complete within that window — a completion gap that is worth watching but does not erase the institution's broad reach. Freshman retention stands at 87.8%. Low-income graduates earn $54,900 on a historical 10-year Scorecard measure, placing this cohort in the 84.9 percentile for low-income graduate earnings among nonprofit four-year institutions — a strong result given that Oregon State's dominant program concentration in engineering and applied sciences tends to produce above-average early-career pay across income groups. Azimuth ranks Oregon State University #71 for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions. As explored in Azimuth's analysis of access versus outcomes at scale, the mobility ranking reflects both the volume of students Oregon State serves from lower-income backgrounds and the earnings advantage those graduates carry into the labor market — a combination that distinguishes institutions where broad access and strong outcomes reinforce rather than trade off against each other.
Oregon State University admits about 77.3% of applicants. Among enrolled undergraduates, 22.8% receive Pell Grants and 31.4% are first-generation college students — a meaningful share for a research university of this scale. Transfer enrollment is substantial, at 43.3%, reflecting Oregon State's role as a destination for students who begin their academic path elsewhere and seek a university with broad program depth and workforce reach. The middle 50% of admitted students who submitted scores fell between 1,140 and 1,400 on the SAT (interquartile range), and between 24 and 31 on the ACT. Azimuth ranks Oregon State University #361 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions. That position reflects both the breadth of the institution's admission funnel and the share of students it enrolls from Pell-eligible and first-generation backgrounds, two groups that are often underrepresented at research universities with strong engineering and STEM identities. What matters alongside access is what happens after students arrive. The six-year graduation rate is 70.1%, and 55.2% of Pell-eligible students complete within that window — a completion gap that is worth watching but does not erase the institution's broad reach. Freshman retention stands at 87.8%. Low-income graduates earn $54,900 on a historical 10-year Scorecard measure, placing this cohort in the 84.9 percentile for low-income graduate earnings among nonprofit four-year institutions — a strong result given that Oregon State's dominant program concentration in engineering and applied sciences tends to produce above-average early-career pay across income groups. Azimuth ranks Oregon State University #71 for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions. As explored in Azimuth's analysis of access versus outcomes at scale, the mobility ranking reflects both the volume of students Oregon State serves from lower-income backgrounds and the earnings advantage those graduates carry into the labor market — a combination that distinguishes institutions where broad access and strong outcomes reinforce rather than trade off against each other.
Oregon State University admits about 77.3% of applicants. Among enrolled undergraduates, 22.8% receive Pell Grants and 31.4% are first-generation college students — a meaningful share for a research university of this scale. Transfer enrollment is substantial, at 43.3%, reflecting Oregon State's role as a destination for students who begin their academic path elsewhere and seek a university with broad program depth and workforce reach. The middle 50% of admitted students who submitted scores fell between 1,140 and 1,400 on the SAT (interquartile range), and between 24 and 31 on the ACT. Azimuth ranks Oregon State University #361 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions. That position reflects both the breadth of the institution's admission funnel and the share of students it enrolls from Pell-eligible and first-generation backgrounds, two groups that are often underrepresented at research universities with strong engineering and STEM identities. What matters alongside access is what happens after students arrive. The six-year graduation rate is 70.1%, and 55.2% of Pell-eligible students complete within that window — a completion gap that is worth watching but does not erase the institution's broad reach. Freshman retention stands at 87.8%. Low-income graduates earn $54,900 on a historical 10-year Scorecard measure, placing this cohort in the 84.9 percentile for low-income graduate earnings among nonprofit four-year institutions — a strong result given that Oregon State's dominant program concentration in engineering and applied sciences tends to produce above-average early-career pay across income groups. Azimuth ranks Oregon State University #71 for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions. As explored in Azimuth's analysis of access versus outcomes at scale, the mobility ranking reflects both the volume of students Oregon State serves from lower-income backgrounds and the earnings advantage those graduates carry into the labor market — a combination that distinguishes institutions where broad access and strong outcomes reinforce rather than trade off against each other.
