College Azimuth

Research brief & institution hub

University of Minnesota-Duluth

MNMedium public institution · Overall rank #543 nationally

Data snapshot Updated

Azimuth ranks University of Minnesota-Duluth #543 nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Who it’s a good fit for

University of Minnesota-Duluth is a public university in Duluth, Minnesota, where the degree mix is led by Business, Engineering, and Biological Sciences, and mobility is well above average. Graduates earn about what predicts for students like them, and the typical graduate earns above the median at comparable schools.

The model attributes an addition to the factors it measures and a subtraction to what it cannot explain. Students who arrive with Pell Grants finish well below the rate for the entering cohort as a whole, and access is modestly below average.

The lowest income band pays well under the published cost, while the highest pays close to it, so the aid picture shifts sharply with income. The admission rate is above the median for comparable schools, and the degree mix leans toward business and engineering alongside the sciences.

A student drawn to the largest programs should know that the best-paid ones are in engineering, and those are smaller.

University of Minnesota-Duluth at a glance

Admissions and outcomes

Admission rate[1]
88.7%
Six-year completion[2]
64.7%
Four-year earnings[3]
$66,056

Cost and family borrowing

Average annual net price · $48–75K family income[6]
$11,965
Median student debt[4]
$22,024
Median Parent PLUS debt[7]
$22,127

University of Minnesota-Duluth rankings: how Azimuth assesses value[5]

The University of Minnesota-Duluth is a public university in Duluth, Minnesota, enrolling 7,336 undergraduates. Its composite standing sits in the middle of the Azimuth ranking among nonprofit four-year institutions, with mobility as the strongest and access the weakest.

The university admits 88.8% of applicants, a rate close to the 85.9% median for comparable institutions of the same type and size. Among full-time first-year students, 81.1% return for a second year, well above the peer median of 73.7%.

The six-year graduation rate is 64.7%, also above the peer median of 49.1%. An estimated 17.9% of undergraduates arrive as transfers or part-time students.

The four pillars spread across a wide range. Mobility is the strongest, while access lags the other three.

Return and affordability cluster closer together. The shape is a public university where students finish at rates well above the norm for similar schools, but where the financial-access measures are the weakest part of the picture.

University of Minnesota-Duluth's strongest pillar is mobility, in the 79th percentile, and its weakest is access, in the 29th percentile. The return and affordability pillars sit near the middle of nonprofit four-year institutions, in the 62nd and 61st percentiles respectively.

Azimuth ranks University of Minnesota-Duluth #543 among 1,467 nonprofit four-year institutions.

Pell Grants reach 18.8% of undergraduates. Among enrolled students who submitted SAT scores, the middle 50% fell between 1,180 and 1,350; for ACT submitters, the comparable range was 23 to 28.

The access pillar ranks #1,049 among nonprofit four-year institutions. Pell recipients finish at 53.7%, trailing the overall six-year graduation rate (64.7%) by 11.0 percentage points.

Mobility is the university's strongest pillar, ranking #303 among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $381 more than the model expects for similar students, effectively at the expected level.

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

University of Minnesota-Duluth rankings in context
GeographyRank
National#543

Azimuth overall value rankings within each geographic comparison group.

National pillar percentiles

Economic mobility
National percentile: 79
Access & reach
National percentile: 29
Affordability
National percentile: 61
Return on investment
National percentile: 62

01 / University of Minnesota-Duluth briefing

University of Minnesota-Duluth cost & financial aid[6][7]

The published cost of attendance at University of Minnesota-Duluth is $27,680. For Minnesota residents, tuition and fees are $14,610; for non-residents, $20,130.

Room and board add $11,110. After grants and scholarships, the average net price — what aid recipients actually pay — is $18,743.

That is $4,675 above the $14,068 median at comparable institutions (same type and size). Azimuth ranks the university #547 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions. Financial aid reduces the published cost by $8,937 on average.

The published cost of attendance at the University of Minnesota-Duluth is $27,680, with in-state tuition and fees of $14,610 and room and board at $11,110. For families earning under $30,000, the average net price—what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships—is $7,256.

For families in the $48,001–$75,000 band, it is $11,965, and for families earning over $110,000, it is $24,453. The spread between the lowest and highest bands is $17,197.

Azimuth ranks the university #547 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions. Aid covers about 32% of the published cost for the average aid recipient, a savings of $8,937 against the sticker price.

The across all aid recipients is $18,743, which sits above the peer median of $14,068 for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $4,675. Out-of-state students face a higher tuition of $20,130, though the net price figures here are on an in-state basis.

Median federal student debt at completion is $22,024. That debt is above the peer median of $21,229 by $795, and 92.4% of federal aid recipients borrow federal loans.

Median Parent PLUS borrowing is $22,127. If repaid over ten years, the median federal debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $250 a month.

Your family income

Choose a household income range to see estimated net price.

Reported average annual net price · $48–75K$11,965

After grants and scholarships. Your aid offer may differ.

Averages within each income band; individual aid packages vary.

Borrowing and repayment at University of Minnesota-Duluth

Most undergraduates at University of Minnesota-Duluth take federal loans—92.4%—and those who complete a degree leave with a median federal student debt of $22,024. That median sits above the peer median of $21,229 for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $795, a narrow gap.

Parent borrowers, a separate population, carry a median Parent PLUS loan of $22,127.

Four years after completion, graduates of University of Minnesota-Duluth earn a median of $66,056, in the 68th percentile nationally. That figure sits above the peer median of $57,301 for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $8,755.

Graduates earn about $381 more than the model expects for similar students, effectively at the expected level, an outcome in the 56th percentile. Earnings scenarios, derived from the university's program mix, show a typical earnings level of $66,056, with a downside scenario of $49,316 and an upside scenario of $83,822.

Borrowers finish with a median federal debt of $22,024, which is above the peer median of $21,229 by $795. That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $250 a month if repaid over ten years.

Median Parent PLUS borrowing, a separate parent-borrower population, is $22,127. The estimated monthly student payment if repaid over ten years is $250.

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

Financial GPS

What does repayment look like?

Institution median student debt
$22,024
Institution Parent PLUS debt
$22,127

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

Estimated student payment · monthly
$250/mo
Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly
$281/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 / University of Minnesota-Duluth briefing

University of Minnesota-Duluth career outcomes & earnings[3][8][9]

Four years after completing a degree, federally aided graduates who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $66,056. That is $8,755 above the $57,301 median for comparable institutions (same type and size), and it sits at the 68th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Graduates earn about $381 more than the model expects for similar students, effectively at the expected level. That puts the gap at the 56th percentile.

The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $8,717. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $8,336. Azimuth places the return pillar at the 62nd percentile.

Four years after completing a degree, University of Minnesota-Duluth graduates earn a median of $66,056, which is above the median of $57,301 for comparable institutions (same type and size). That figure places the university in the 68th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions, drawn from an earnings cohort of 2,402 completers.

Graduates earn about $381 more than the model expects for similar students, effectively at the expected level. Earnings scenarios anchored on the university's program mix show a downside scenario of $49,316 and an upside scenario reaching $83,822, with the typical scenario matching the observed median.

An estimated 31.1% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure estimated from the program mix. The earnings picture is mixed: graduates earn above the peer median, yet the return is effectively at the level the model expects for similar students.

The spread between the downside and upside scenarios reflects the range of programs available.

Four years after completing a degree, federally aided graduates of University of Minnesota-Duluth who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $66,056, at the 68th percentile. The peer median for comparable institutions (same type and size) is $57,301, placing the university $8,755 above that mark.

Azimuth ranks the university #562 for return among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $381 more than the model expects for similar students, effectively at the expected level.

The gap sits at the 56th percentile. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $8,717.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $8,336. Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $3,820.

The program mix here spans business, engineering and the sciences. An estimated 31.1% of graduates continue to graduate study, based on the program mix.

Earnings scenarios, estimated from that mix, range from a downside of $49,316 to an upside of $83,822.

Four years after completing a degree, the median earnings for University of Minnesota-Duluth graduates sit at $66,056. The earnings scenarios, which are estimated from the program mix, show a wide range: a downside of $49,316 and an upside of $83,822.

At the program level, Industrial Engineering graduates report the highest median earnings at $97,732, from 13 degrees awarded a year. Computer Science follows at $91,911, with a larger cohort of 78 degrees awarded.

The return picture at University of Minnesota-Duluth is mixed. Graduates earn about $381 more than the model expects for similar students, effectively at the expected level.

The median earnings of $66,056 four years after completion are $8,755 above the peer median for comparable institutions (same type and size). Borrowers who finish carry a median of $22,024 in federal student loans, which is $795 above the peer median of $21,229.

If repaid over ten years, that debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $250 a month. Parents who borrow hold a separate median of $22,127 in Parent PLUS loans.

The average net price for aid recipients is $18,743, which is $4,675 above the $14,068 median for comparable institutions. Aid covers about 32% of the published cost for the average aid recipient, but this is an average rather than a personal quote.

What explains value-added earnings?
Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.
+$8,717
Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.
-$8,336
Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.
+$381

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 Minnesota-Duluth briefing

University of Minnesota-Duluth acceptance rate & admissions[1][10][11]

The University of Minnesota-Duluth admits 88.8% of applicants, a rate that sits near the median of 85.9% for comparable institutions (same type and size). In its 2024-25 Common Data Set, the university reported 1,266 applicants and 899 admitted students.

SAT: approximate enrolled-student range
Admission rate
88.7%
Approximate lower endpoint
1180
Reported average
1251
Approximate upper endpoint
1350

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 / University of Minnesota-Duluth briefing

What are the largest majors at University of Minnesota-Duluth?[12]

The university's largest programs show a clear earnings spread between technical and non-technical fields. Mechanical Engineering leads with a median of $88,965 four years after completion, on 106 degrees awarded.

Marketing and Finance follow at $74,079 and $73,979, with 122 and 117 degrees awarded respectively. By contrast, Psychology and Biology sit lower, at $51,891 and $63,317.

They award the most degrees: 162 and 146. The highest-earning program overall, Industrial Engineering, reaches $97,732 but awarded only 13 degrees.

The spread between the largest and highest-earning programs shows that early-career pay varies widely by field at University of Minnesota-Duluth.

The largest programs at University of Minnesota-Duluth show a wide earnings spread four years after completion, from $51,891 in Psychology to $88,965 in Mechanical Engineering. Psychology awarded 162 degrees, while Biology awarded 146 and reports a median of $63,317.

Marketing and Finance each awarded over a hundred degrees, with medians of $74,079 and $73,979. The highest-earning large program is Mechanical Engineering, at 106 degrees awarded.

Across all 42 programs with published earnings, the top earners include Industrial Engineering at $97,732 and Computer Science at $91,911.

The program mix at University of Minnesota-Duluth leans toward applied fields. Business accounts for 19.3% of bachelor's degrees awarded, the largest share, followed by Engineering at 12.3% and Biological Sciences at 8.5%.

The university has 42 programs with published four-year earnings data. The largest single programs are Psychology, at 162 degrees awarded, Biology at 146, and Marketing at 122.

The highest-earning programs are concentrated in engineering. Industrial Engineering graduates report the highest median earnings four years after completion, at $97,732, though the program awards only 13 degrees a year.

Computer Science, a larger program at 78 degrees awarded, follows at $91,911. Mechanical Engineering, the fifth-largest program with 106 degrees awarded, also sits among the top earners at $88,965.

The pattern is one of a broad base with a few high-earning technical programs. The largest programs—Psychology at $51,891 and Biology at $63,317—earn less than the engineering fields.

33.1% of degrees awarded are in STEM fields, and the engineering programs that show the highest earnings are mostly small to mid-sized, while the largest programs sit in other fields.

Four-year earnings · six largest reported fields
Psychology, General 162 degrees awarded
$51,891
Biology, General 146 degrees awarded
$63,317
Marketing 122 degrees awarded
$74,079
Finance and Financial Management Services 117 degrees awarded
$73,979
Mechanical Engineering 106 degrees awarded
$88,965
Education, Other 86 degrees awarded
$46,964

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 Minnesota-Duluth briefing

How does University of Minnesota-Duluth serve students from different backgrounds?

The strongest pillar at University of Minnesota-Duluth is mobility, where the university sits in the 79th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The six-year graduation rate for the first-time full-time cohort is 64.7%, while Pell recipients complete at 53.7%, below the overall rate by 11.0 percentage points.

Graduates earn about $381 more than the model expects for similar students, effectively at the expected level. That outcome falls in the 56th percentile.

A graduation rate that clears the peer median coincides with earnings at the expected level, a mixed return picture that keeps the mobility pillar as the university's clearest strength.

Admitting 88.8% of applicants, University of Minnesota-Duluth is a public university located in Duluth, Minnesota, that enrolls 7,336 undergraduates in total. The university's access pillar is in the 29th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions, per Azimuth.

Pell Grant recipients constitute 18.8% of the overall undergraduate body, while an estimated 17.9% of students enter as transfers or part-time students.

06 / University of Minnesota-Duluth briefing

What colleges are similar to University of Minnesota-Duluth?[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 University of Minnesota-Duluth.

Admissions peerBethel University87.8% admitted
Comparison with University of Minnesota-Duluth
MeasureUniversity of Minnesota-DuluthBethel University
Peer earnings · 4 years$66,056$70,633+$4,577 vs University of Minnesota-Duluth
Average annual net price$18,743$28,556+$9,813 vs University of Minnesota-Duluth · higher cost
Admission rate88.7%87.8%
Explore Bethel University →
Higher-admission alternativeUniversity of Wisconsin-Milwaukee100.0% admitted
Comparison with University of Minnesota-Duluth
MeasureUniversity of Minnesota-DuluthUniversity of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Peer earnings · 4 years$66,056$62,480-$3,576 vs University of Minnesota-Duluth
Average annual net price$18,743$15,014-$3,729 vs University of Minnesota-Duluth · lower cost
Admission rate88.7%100.0%
Explore University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee →
Nearby alternativeThe College of Saint ScholasticaNearby option · MN
Comparison with University of Minnesota-Duluth
MeasureUniversity of Minnesota-DuluthThe College of Saint Scholastica
Peer earnings · 4 years$66,056$75,595+$9,539 vs University of Minnesota-Duluth
Average annual net price$18,743$27,846+$9,103 vs University of Minnesota-Duluth · higher cost
Admission rate88.7%93.0%
Higher-earnings alternativeCal Poly Maritime Academy$108,757 earnings
Comparison with University of Minnesota-Duluth
MeasureUniversity of Minnesota-DuluthCal Poly Maritime Academy
Peer earnings · 4 years$66,056$108,757+$42,701 vs University of Minnesota-Duluth
Average annual net price$18,743$20,555+$1,812 vs University of Minnesota-Duluth · higher cost
Admission rate88.7%95.0%
Explore Cal Poly Maritime Academy →
Lower-cost alternativeCUNY Brooklyn College$3,103 average net price
Comparison with University of Minnesota-Duluth
MeasureUniversity of Minnesota-DuluthCUNY Brooklyn College
Peer earnings · 4 years$66,056$62,833-$3,223 vs University of Minnesota-Duluth
Average annual net price$18,743$3,103-$15,640 vs University of Minnesota-Duluth · lower cost
Admission rate88.7%58.4%
Explore CUNY Brooklyn College →
Similar profileUniversity of Missouri-Kansas CityMatched across several measures
Comparison with University of Minnesota-Duluth
MeasureUniversity of Minnesota-DuluthUniversity of Missouri-Kansas City
Peer earnings · 4 years$66,056$65,925-$131 vs University of Minnesota-Duluth
Average annual net price$18,743$13,310-$5,433 vs University of Minnesota-Duluth · lower cost
Admission rate88.7%72.2%
Explore University of Missouri-Kansas City →

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 is 150% of the federal poverty guideline for one person, for the year the API serves. It is an illustration rather than a school rating. The parent table is the 10-year payment on the median Parent PLUS as a share of household income above 200% of the guideline for a household of three: under 6% Safe, 6–10% Caution, over 10% High pressure. 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