College Azimuth

Research brief & institution hub

University of Central Missouri

MOMedium public institution · Overall rank #593 nationally

Data snapshot Narrative updated

Azimuth ranks the University of Central Missouri #593 nationally.

Who it’s a good fit for

The University of Central Missouri is a public university in Warrensburg, Missouri, where Education and Health Professions lead the degree mix. Affordability is well above average, and the university falls among the Opportunity Builders group.

Graduates earn less than predicts for students like them. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures adds to expected earnings, while the part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts from them.

Pell Grant recipients complete below the overall six-year rate. Access is above average and mobility is above average.

The admission rate is below the median for comparable schools, and most graduates are estimated to go into the workforce rather than on to further study. A student choosing a major should know that the largest program, Teacher Education, earns well below the highest-earning one, Construction Management.

University of Central Missouri at a glance

Admissions and outcomes

Admission rate[1]
63.8%
Six-year completion[2]
54.1%
Four-year earnings[3]
$54,054

Cost and family borrowing

Average annual net price · $48–75K family income[6]
$13,408
Median student debt[4]
$21,000
Median Parent PLUS debt[7]
$14,000

University of Central Missouri rankings: how Azimuth assesses value[5]

University of Central Missouri is a public university in Warrensburg, Missouri, enrolling 5,648 undergraduates. Its overall standing sits just above the middle among nonprofit four-year institutions (60th percentile), with a wide gap separating its strongest and weakest pillars.

The admission rate is 63.8%, set against a peer median of 85.9% for comparable institutions (same type and size). Among first-time, full-time students at University of Central Missouri, 73.6% return for a second year; the peer median is 73.7%.

The six-year graduation rate reaches 54.1%, while the peer median stands at 49.1%. An estimated 42.2% of entrants arrive as transfers, so the six-year graduation rate applies only to the first-time, full-time cohort and does not capture students who began their studies elsewhere.

The four pillars are spread across a wide range. Affordability (79th percentile) is the strongest, while return (27th percentile) is the weakest.

Access (65th percentile) and mobility (60th percentile) sit between them, with the two closer to each other than to either extreme. The result is a profile for University of Central Missouri where affordability and access sit well above return.

The University of Central Missouri's strongest pillar is affordability, in the 79th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The access pillar follows at the 65th percentile, and mobility at the 60th percentile.

The return pillar is the weakest, in the 27th percentile. Azimuth places the university in the Opportunity Builders group.

26.8% of undergraduates at University of Central Missouri receive Pell Grants. Azimuth ranks University of Central Missouri #516 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Pell recipients complete at a rate of 46.9%, which is 7.2 percentage points below the overall six-year graduation rate (54.1%). Azimuth ranks the university #582 for mobility, placing it in the Opportunity Builders group. Graduates earn about $7,187 less than the model expects for similar students.

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

University of Central Missouri rankings in context
GeographyRank
National#593

Azimuth overall value rankings within each geographic comparison group.

National pillar percentiles

Economic mobility
National percentile: 60
Access & reach
National percentile: 65
Affordability
National percentile: 79
Return on investment
National percentile: 27

01 / University of Central Missouri briefing

University of Central Missouri cost & financial aid[6][7]

The University of Central Missouri publishes a cost of attendance of $22,947. In its 2024-25 Common Data Set, the university reported in-state tuition of $8,910 for the 2025-26 academic year.

Out-of-state students face a published charge of $17,820. After grants and scholarships, the average net price for aid recipients is $14,462.

That is $394 above the $14,068 median for comparable institutions (same type and size). Financial aid reduces the published cost by an average of $8,485.

Azimuth ranks the university #295 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions. That places the affordability pillar in the 79th percentile.

Affordability is the strongest pillar for the University of Central Missouri, a public university in Warrensburg, Missouri. The published cost of attendance is $22,947, and the average net price—what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships—varies by family income.

For families earning under $30,000, the average net price is $10,965; for the middle band, families earning $48,001–$75,000, it is $13,408; and for families earning over $110,000, it is $18,485. The spread between the lowest and highest bands is $7,520.

Azimuth ranks the university #295 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions. Aid covers about 37% of the published cost for the average aid recipient, a savings of $8,485 against the sticker price.

The average net price across all aid recipients is $14,462, which sits above the peer median of $14,068 for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $394. The median federal student debt at completion is $21,000, which is below the peer median of $21,229 by $229.

About 87.1% of federal aid recipients borrow federal loans. The median Parent PLUS borrowing is $14,000.

That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $239 a month if repaid over ten years. For a personalized look at costs and debt scenarios, including Parent PLUS, try the Financial GPS tool on this site.

Your family income

Choose a household income range to see estimated net price.

Reported average annual net price · $48–75K$13,408

After grants and scholarships. Your aid offer may differ.

Averages within each income band; individual aid packages vary.

Borrowing and repayment at University of Central Missouri

Borrowing at the University of Central Missouri is common but the amounts stay close to the peer median. About 87.1% of federal aid recipients take federal loans, and among completers with federal loans the median debt is $21,000.

That median sits below the $21,229 median for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $229, close to peers. Parent PLUS borrowing, a separate population of parent borrowers, carries a median of $14,000.

In its 2024-25 Common Data Set, the university reported that 61% of bachelor's graduates in the cohort of 696 borrowed from any source. The average cumulative amount was $25,636 per borrower.

Of those graduates, 59% held federal loans averaging $19,290. A smaller group, 17% of graduates, carried private loans averaging $24,867. The federal and private shares overlap because a graduate can hold both types.

The earnings picture at the University of Central Missouri is mixed: graduates earn less than the model expects, but the debt they carry is in line with peers. Four years after completion, the median earnings for working, non-enrolled graduates is $54,054, which falls in the 29th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Graduates earn about $7,187 less than the model expects for similar students, an outcome in the 28th percentile nationally. Earnings scenarios based on the university's program mix show a typical earnings level of $54,054, with a downside scenario of $40,541 and an upside scenario of $84,569.

The spread between the downside and upside cases reflects the range of earning power across different fields of study. For borrowers, the median federal student debt at completion is $21,000, which is below the $21,229 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $239 a month if repaid over ten years. The return pillar sits in the 27th percentile.

The affordability pillar reaches the 79th percentile, so the cost side of the equation is the stronger part of the value story here.

Median Parent PLUS borrowing, a separate parent-borrower population, is $14,000. The estimated monthly student payment if repaid over ten years is $239.

For a personalized family cost analysis, use the Financial GPS tool.

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

Read the full cost & aid brief

02 / University of Central Missouri briefing

University of Central Missouri career outcomes & earnings[3][8][9]

The return pillar at University of Central Missouri sits in the 27th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Four years after completion, completers earn a median of $54,054, which lands in the 29th percentile nationally.

That figure is below the median among comparable institutions (same type and size) of $57,301 by $3,247. Graduates earn about $7,187 less than the model expects for similar students, a result in the 28th percentile.

The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $6,013. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $13,200. Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $2,454.

Four years after completing a degree, the 2,593 federally aided graduates of University of Central Missouri who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $54,054. That is $3,247 below the $57,301 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Azimuth places that earnings level at the 29th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $7,187 less than the model expects for similar students.

Earnings beyond expectations are the difference between actual graduate pay and what the model predicts for comparable students. That measure lands at the 28th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Earnings scenarios estimated from the program mix range from $40,541 to $84,569, with the typical scenario matching the observed median. An estimated 23.9% of graduates continue to graduate study, based on the program mix.

The return picture at University of Central Missouri is mixed. Graduates earn a median of $54,054 four years after completion.

That figure is in the 29th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. That sits below the peer median of $57,301 for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $3,247.

Graduates earn about $7,187 less than the model expects for similar students. That result is in the 28th percentile for earnings beyond expectations, the gap between actual and expected earnings for similar students.

The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $6,013. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $13,200.

Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $2,454. Azimuth ranks the university #1,071 for return among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Earnings scenarios from the program mix show a downside of $40,541 and an upside of $84,569. The largest program, Teacher Education, awarded 190 degrees and shows median earnings of $38,807 four years after completion, which is 0.82x the national median for the field.

Nursing, the second-largest with 118 degrees awarded, reaches $80,542. The highest-earning program is Construction Management, where 27 degrees awarded correspond to a median of $96,186, just above the national benchmark at 1.01x.

Computer Science follows at $90,822 with 65 degrees awarded. The earnings picture is mixed.

The largest program sits well below the national median for its field. A handful of technical and health programs reach higher figures, though none dramatically exceed their benchmarks.

Earnings scenarios range from $40,541 on the downside to $84,569 on the upside, with $54,054 as the typical scenario. These are scenarios estimated from the program mix, not observed groups of graduates.

The upside reflects high-earning programs such as Construction Management, where graduates earn $96,186 four years after completion, and Computer Science at $90,822. The largest program, Teacher Education, has lower earnings at $38,807.

Affordability is the strongest pillar at University of Central Missouri, and the debt numbers bear that out. Borrowers who complete a degree leave with a median federal student debt of $21,000, which is below the median of $21,229 for comparable institutions (same type and size).

If repaid over ten years, that debt corresponds to an estimated monthly payment of $239. The average net price for aid recipients is $14,462, which is above the peer median of $14,068 by $394.

Parent PLUS borrowers, a separate population, carry a median of $14,000. Graduates earn about $7,187 less than the model expects for similar students.

The return picture is mixed: a low debt load and a net price near the peer median coincide with earnings that trail both the peer median and the model's expectation.

What explains value-added earnings?
Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.
+$6,013
Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.
-$13,200
Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.
-$7,187

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 / University of Central Missouri briefing

University of Central Missouri acceptance rate & admissions[1][10][11]

The University of Central Missouri admits 63.8% of applicants, a rate well below the median of 85.9% for comparable institutions (same type and size). In its 2024-25 Common Data Set, the university reported 5,637 applicants, 3,600 admitted students, and 1,026 enrolled first-year students.

Admissions
Admission rate
63.8%
Read the full admissions brief

04 / University of Central Missouri briefing

What are the largest majors at University of Central Missouri?[12]

The University of Central Missouri awards bachelor's degrees across 39 fields with published four-year earnings, and the spread between the highest-earning and largest programs is wide. Construction Management leads at $96,186 four years after completion, though it awarded only 27 degrees.

Computer Science follows at $90,822 with 65 degrees awarded, and Quality Control and Safety Technologies/Technicians reaches $84,738 on 35 degrees. Among the largest programs, the picture shifts.

Teacher Education, the biggest by degrees awarded at 190, shows median earnings of $38,807. Nursing, with 118 degrees awarded, reaches $80,542 — the only large program that approaches the earnings of the top-earning fields.

Criminal Justice and Kinesiology and Physical Education sit in the middle, at $52,875 and $52,328 respectively. A student's field choice here carries a large earnings consequence.

The university publishes earnings data for 39 bachelor's programs, and the spread between the largest program's median and the top earner's median is wide. The largest, Teacher Education, awarded 190 degrees and shows a median of $38,807 four years after completion, while Nursing awarded 118 degrees and its completers earn a median of $80,542.

Construction Management leads the earnings list at $96,186 with 27 degrees awarded. Computer Science follows at $90,822, and Quality Control and Safety Technologies/Technicians at $84,738.

The bachelor's degree mix at University of Central Missouri is anchored in Education, which accounts for 16.4% of degrees awarded, followed by Health Professions at 12.3% and Business at 11.3%. Across 39 programs with published four-year earnings data, the largest by degrees awarded is Teacher Education at 190 degrees awarded, with Nursing next at 118 and Criminal Justice at 101.

24.9% of degrees awarded are in STEM fields. The highest-earning program is Construction Management, where graduates earn a median of $96,186 four years after completion, from 27 degrees awarded.

Computer Science follows at $90,822 with 65 degrees awarded, and Quality Control and Safety Technologies/Technicians at $84,738 from 35 degrees awarded. Nursing, the second-largest program, earns a median of $80,542.

The pattern is one of earnings concentrated in technical and applied fields that sit outside the largest degree families. Teacher Education, the largest program, earns a median of $38,807, well below the highest-earning programs, while the highest-earning programs are smaller in scale.

Four-year earnings for fields that commonly precede further education understate later trajectories.

Four-year earnings · six largest reported fields
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods 190 degrees awarded
$38,807
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing 118 degrees awarded
$80,542
Criminal Justice and Corrections 101 degrees awarded
$52,875
Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness 79 degrees awarded
$52,328
Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities 69 degrees awarded
$51,897
Computer Science 65 degrees awarded
$90,822

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 / University of Central Missouri briefing

How does University of Central Missouri serve students from different backgrounds?

Azimuth places the University of Central Missouri in the 60th percentile for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions, a position that puts it among the Opportunity Builders group. The first-time full-time cohort graduates at a rate of 54.1%, which sits above the peer median of 49.1%.

Pell recipients complete at 46.9%, a figure that trails the overall six-year graduation rate by 7.2 percentage points. Four years after completion, graduates earn about $7,187 less than the model expects for similar students, a result that sits in the 28th percentile nationally.

The graduation figures show the university moving students through at a pace that beats comparable schools, but the earnings picture pulls the other way — a gap worth weighing alongside the completion strength.

Azimuth places the access pillar of University of Central Missouri in the 65th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The public university admits 63.8% of applicants, well below the peer median of 85.9%, and enrolls 5,648 undergraduates.

Pell Grant recipients make up 26.8% of the undergraduate body, and an estimated 42.2% of undergraduates arrive as transfers or part-time students.

06 / University of Central Missouri briefing

What colleges are similar to University of Central Missouri?[16]

Azimuth groups alternatives by admissions, location, cost and earnings, then orders candidates within each group. Peer earnings use the matched four-year cohort. A leading match in one category can have a higher or lower admission rate, cost or earnings in another. How matching works.

A shortlist for different decisions

Choose a row to compare the figures with University of Central Missouri.

Admissions peerCalvary University71.7% admitted
Comparison with University of Central Missouri
MeasureUniversity of Central MissouriCalvary University
Peer earnings · 4 years$54,054$32,281-$21,773 vs University of Central Missouri
Average annual net price$14,462$16,334+$1,872 vs University of Central Missouri · higher cost
Admission rate63.8%71.7%
Higher-admission alternativeBenedictine College98.1% admitted
Comparison with University of Central Missouri
MeasureUniversity of Central MissouriBenedictine College
Peer earnings · 4 years$54,054$55,405+$1,351 vs University of Central Missouri
Average annual net price$14,462$27,891+$13,429 vs University of Central Missouri · higher cost
Admission rate63.8%98.1%
Nearby alternativeSouthwest Baptist UniversityNearby option · MO
Comparison with University of Central Missouri
MeasureUniversity of Central MissouriSouthwest Baptist University
Peer earnings · 4 years$54,054$54,286+$232 vs University of Central Missouri
Average annual net price$14,462$21,677+$7,215 vs University of Central Missouri · higher cost
Admission rate63.8%68.4%
Higher-earnings alternativeUniversity of Missouri-Kansas City$65,925 earnings
Comparison with University of Central Missouri
MeasureUniversity of Central MissouriUniversity of Missouri-Kansas City
Peer earnings · 4 years$54,054$65,925+$11,871 vs University of Central Missouri
Average annual net price$14,462$13,310-$1,152 vs University of Central Missouri · lower cost
Admission rate63.8%72.2%
Explore University of Missouri-Kansas City →
Lower-cost alternativeSan Diego Christian College$992 average net price
Comparison with University of Central Missouri
MeasureUniversity of Central MissouriSan Diego Christian College
Peer earnings · 4 years$54,054$50,741-$3,313 vs University of Central Missouri
Average annual net price$14,462$992-$13,470 vs University of Central Missouri · lower cost
Admission rate63.8%30.8%
Similar profilePurdue University Fort WayneMatched across several measures
Comparison with University of Central Missouri
MeasureUniversity of Central MissouriPurdue University Fort Wayne
Peer earnings · 4 years$54,054$56,455+$2,401 vs University of Central Missouri
Average annual net price$14,462$13,171-$1,291 vs University of Central Missouri · lower cost
Admission rate63.8%83.9%
Explore Purdue University Fort Wayne →

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.

  1. Admission rate. Reported applicants admitted; not a transfer-specific or individual admission probability.

    Source fields: ADM_RATE

    U.S. Department of Education · College Scorecard documentation

  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

    U.S. Department of Education · College Scorecard documentation

  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

    U.S. Department of Education · College Scorecard documentation

  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

    U.S. Department of Education · College Scorecard documentation

  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

    U.S. Department of Education · College Scorecard documentation

  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 · U.S. Department of Education · College Scorecard documentation

  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

    U.S. Department of Education · College Scorecard documentation

  11. First-year retention. Retention of the reported full-time cohort at four-year institutions.

    Source fields: RET_FT4

    U.S. Department of Education · College Scorecard documentation

  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

    U.S. Department of Education · College Scorecard documentation

  14. Historical first-generation share. A discontinued historical earnings-cohort measure, not the current student population.

    Source fields: FIRST_GEN

    U.S. Department of Education · College Scorecard documentation

  15. 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

    U.S. Department of Education · College Scorecard documentation

  16. 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 · U.S. Department of Education · College Scorecard documentation

College Scorecard data documentation · How to interpret program rankings