Southwest Minnesota State University

At Southwest Minnesota State University, the published cost of attendance is $24,757, and its affordability standing offers a favorable starting point for comparing prices. The standard budget includes $10,361 in tuition and fees for residents and $10,361 for nonresidents, alongside $11,028 for room and board.

For aid recipients, average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $15,291, with aid reducing the published cost by $9,466 on average. Comparable institutions (same type and size) have a peer median net price of $14,068; the university's average is $1,223 above that figure.

Azimuth ranks Southwest Minnesota State University #294 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions. The sticker-to-net reduction is substantial, though the average aided cost remains above the peer median.

Affordability is a relative strength at Southwest Minnesota State University, whose published cost of attendance is $24,757. Average net price is $10,559 for aid recipients in the lowest family-income band, $11,175 in the lower-middle band, $13,153 in the middle band, $18,283 in the upper-middle band, and $20,701 in the highest band.

The spread between the lowest and highest bands is $10,142. Azimuth places the university's affordability pillar in the 79th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Aid covers about 38% of the published cost for the average aid recipient. Across all aid recipients, the average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $15,291, with average aid savings of $9,466 against the sticker price.

The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $14,068, and the university's average is $1,223 above it. In-state and out-of-state tuition are each $10,361.

Among federal-loan borrowers who completed, median federal student loan debt is $20,500, and 88.8% of federal aid recipients borrow federal loans. The peer median debt for comparable institutions (same type and size) is $21,229, placing Southwest Minnesota State University $729 below that figure.

That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $233 a month if repaid over ten years. For parent borrowers, median Parent PLUS borrowing is $11,750.

Affordability is the clearer strength at Southwest Minnesota State University, while its return measures are less favorable. According to Azimuth, the return pillar sits in the 21st percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Graduates earn about $10,811 less than the model expects for similar students. Azimuth places earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, in the 17th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $3,293. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $14,104.

Median earnings are $55,009 four years after completion, in the 32nd percentile. The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $57,301, with the university's figure $2,292 below it.

The model and peer comparison both point to earnings below the peer median and model expectation.

The earnings picture at Southwest Minnesota State University is below the model’s expectation for similar students, despite a upside scenario. Among federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled, median earnings are $55,009 four years after completion.

Against nonprofit four-year institutions, that earnings result falls in the 32nd percentile and draws on an earnings cohort of 565 completers. Graduates earn about $10,811 less than the model expects for similar students.

Earnings scenarios based on the program mix place typical earnings at $55,009, with a downside scenario of $45,073 and an upside scenario of $82,829. An estimated 27.6% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure estimated from the program mix.

Four years after completion, Southwest Minnesota State University completers have median earnings of $55,009, in the 32nd percentile. The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $57,301, with the university $2,292 below it.

Completers earn about $10,811 less than the model expects for similar students. Earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what completers earn and what the model expects for similar students, are in the 17th percentile.

The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $3,293. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $14,104.

Within the measured factors, the STEM component subtracts $825. Earnings scenarios grounded in the program mix run from $45,073 on the downside to $82,829 on the upside.

Azimuth places the return pillar in the 21st percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The peer comparison and model estimate point in the same direction.

Nursing is the largest program, with 81 degrees awarded and median earnings of $83,735 four years after completion.

The modeled earnings spread across program mixes is wide, from a downside scenario of $45,073 to an upside scenario of $82,829. These scenarios describe modeled outcomes, not observed groups of graduates.

Program medians four years after completion include Nursing at $83,735, Criminal Justice at $64,654, and Finance at $59,824. Those program figures help explain the broad modeled range.

At Southwest Minnesota State University, borrowing among completers is below the level at comparable institutions, even as graduate earnings fall short of the model’s expectation. Median federal student loan debt for borrowers who completed is $20,500, below the peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), of $21,229 by $729.

That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $233 a month if repaid over ten years. Graduates earn about $10,811 less than the model expects for similar students.

For aid recipients, the average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $15,291. It is above the peer median net price by $1,223, and aid covers about 38% of the published cost for the average aid recipient.

Borrowers who completed leave with lower median debt than the peer median, but the average net price is above the peer median and earnings fall below the model’s expectation.

For applicants, Southwest Minnesota State University admitted 62.2% of the reported entering-class applicant pool, so the rate describes a school where admission was less common than at its comparable institutions. The rate sits below the median of 85.9% for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Southwest Minnesota State University has a wide spread in program earnings, from a clearly higher-earning health field to business fields at more moderate levels four years after completion. Nursing has median earnings of $83,735 and 81 degrees awarded.

Criminal Justice follows with median earnings of $64,654 across 16 degrees awarded. Among the other higher-earning programs, Finance records median earnings of $59,824 and 11 degrees awarded.

Business Administration and Management posts $55,559 with 45 degrees awarded. The figures show that earnings vary substantially by field, even among the university’s larger and higher-earning programs.

Southwest Minnesota State University awards a notable share of its bachelor’s degrees in Education, at 20.8%, alongside Business at 19.2% and Health Professions at 18.9%. Published earnings data cover 10 bachelor’s fields. The program figures span several fields.

The bachelor's degrees at Southwest Minnesota State University are spread across three main families, with Education accounting for 20.8% of degrees awarded, Business for 19.2%, and Health Professions for 18.9%. The university has 10 programs with published four-year earnings data.

The largest single program is Nursing, at 81 degrees awarded, followed by Business Administration and Management with 45 and Kinesiology and Physical Education with 40. Nursing is also the highest-earning program, with a median of $83,735 four years after completion, which is 0.94x the national median for its field.

The second-highest earnings come from Criminal Justice, a smaller program at 16 degrees awarded, where graduates earn $64,654 four years after completion, 1.17x the national median for its field. Finance and Marketing follow, with medians of $59,824 and $58,574 four years after completion from 11 and 9 degrees awarded, respectively.

The pattern is one where the largest program is also the best-paid, which concentrates the earnings story in a single field. The Education family accounts for the largest share of degrees.

Its programs, such as Teacher Education and Subject-Area Teacher Education, sit below the university's highest-earning programs. Across all fields, 5.0% of degrees awarded are in STEM, so the highest earnings here coincide with a field outside the categories that typically anchor STEM-heavy institutions.