College Azimuth

Research brief & institution hub

University of Minnesota-Twin Cities

MNLarge public institution · Overall rank #107 nationally

Data snapshot Updated

Azimuth ranks University of Minnesota-Twin Cities #107 nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Who it’s a good fit for

University of Minnesota-Twin Cities is a public university in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where Business, Biological Sciences, and Social Sciences lead the degree mix. Mobility is among the highest we track.

Graduates out-earn what predicts for students like them, and the typical graduate earns above the median at comparable schools. The factors the model measures add to the result, while the remainder it cannot explain subtracts from it.

Students who arrive with Pell Grants finish below the rate for the entering cohort as a whole, and access is above average. Families at the bottom of the income scale pay well below the published cost, while those at the top pay closer to it.

The admission rate is close to the median for comparable schools. A student drawn to the largest programs should know that the best-paid ones are not the largest.

Computer Engineering and Computer Science lead on earnings, while Computer Science and Psychology lead on size.

UMN at a glance

Admissions and outcomes

Admission rate[1]
79.7%
Six-year completion[2]
85.3%
Four-year earnings[3]
$71,941

Cost and family borrowing

Average annual net price · $48–75K family income[6]
$9,931
Median student debt[4]
$19,500
Median Parent PLUS debt[7]
$25,729

UMN rankings: how Azimuth assesses value[5]

University of Minnesota-Twin Cities enrolls 31,855 undergraduates at its public university campus in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In the Azimuth ranking of nonprofit four-year institutions, it stands near the top of the field (93rd percentile).

University of Minnesota-Twin Cities admits 79.8% of applicants, against a peer median of 78.1% for comparable institutions (same type and size). First-year retention is 91.1%, against a peer median of 83.1%.

The six-year graduation rate is 85.3%, against a peer median of 65.0%. An estimated 21.0% of entrants arrive as transfers or part-time students, so the six-year rate describes only those who started as full-time freshmen.

Mobility is the strongest (at the 96th percentile). Return sits in the upper tier, affordability in the middle, and access is the weakest of the four. The pillars are spread apart, with mobility far ahead of the others.

The strongest pillar at University of Minnesota-Twin Cities is mobility, which Azimuth places in the 96th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The return pillar follows in the 81st percentile, affordability in the 72nd percentile, and access in the 66th percentile.

Access is the weakest pillar, though all four sit above the median for nonprofit four-year institutions. The mobility strength coincides with a program mix that includes several top-ranked fields, and graduates earn about $5,833 more than the model expects for similar students.

Among enrolled students who submitted test scores, the middle 50% of SAT results fell between 1,300 and 1,500, and ACT results between 26 and 31. 17.6% of undergraduates receive Pell Grants.

Azimuth places University of Minnesota-Twin Cities at #496 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions. Pell recipients in the first-time full-time cohort complete at 72.3%, which falls 13.0 percentage points below the rate for the entering cohort as a whole (85.3%).

Azimuth places the university at #65 for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $5,833 more than the model expects for similar students.

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

UMN rankings in context
GeographyRank
National#107

Azimuth overall value rankings within each geographic comparison group.

National pillar percentiles

Economic mobility
National percentile: 96
Access & reach
National percentile: 66
Affordability
National percentile: 72
Return on investment
National percentile: 81

Top-ranked majors

  1. Communication, Journalism, and Related Programs, Other#1
  2. Computer Systems Analysis#1
  3. Computer Systems Networking and Telecommunications#1

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 / UMN briefing

UMN cost & financial aid[6][7]

University of Minnesota-Twin Cities publishes a cost of attendance of $30,061, an average across living arrangements. In-state tuition and fees are $17,214, and room and board are $13,856.

Out-of-state students face a higher tuition of $38,362. After grants and scholarships, the average net price for aid recipients drops to $16,778, a savings of $13,283 against the sticker total.

That sits above the peer median of $15,634 for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $1,144. Azimuth ranks the university #392 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

University of Minnesota-Twin Cities publishes a cost of attendance of $30,061, an average across living arrangements. In-state tuition and fees are $17,214, and room and board are $13,856.

For families earning under $30,000, the average net price—what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships—is $6,642, rising to $9,931 for the $48,001–$75,000 band and $27,008 for families earning over $110,000. The spread between the lowest and highest bands is $20,366, a difference of averages that reflects the university's sliding-scale aid structure.

Azimuth ranks the university #392 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions. Aid covers about 44% of the published cost for the average aid recipient, an offset of $13,283 against the sticker price.

The average net price across all aid recipients is $16,778, which sits above the peer median of $15,634 for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $1,144. Out-of-state students face a higher published tuition of $38,362, though aid packages adjust accordingly.

Graduates who borrow federal loans leave with a median federal student debt of $19,500, below the peer median of $20,076 by $576. About 87.7% of federal aid recipients take federal loans.

That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $222 a month if repaid over ten years. Parents who borrow through Parent PLUS carry a separate median of $25,729.

Your family income

Choose a household income range to see estimated net price.

Reported average annual net price · $48–75K$9,931

After grants and scholarships. Your aid offer may differ.

Averages within each income band; individual aid packages vary.

Borrowing and repayment at UMN

Borrowing is common at University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, where 87.7% of undergraduates take federal loans, yet the debt levels that completers carry are moderate and sit below the peer median. Among those who finish a degree, the median federal student debt is $19,500.

That median is below the $20,076 median for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $576. Parent borrowers, a separate population, carry a median Parent PLUS loan of $25,729.

University of Minnesota-Twin Cities posts a median of $71,941 four years after completion among federally aided graduates who are working and not enrolled. The median lands in the 79th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

That figure is $6,331 above the $65,610 level for comparable institutions (same type and size). Graduates earn about $5,833 more than the model expects for similar students.

That gap falls at the 73rd percentile. Earnings scenarios estimated from the program mix range from $53,789 to $99,824, with $71,941 as the typical outcome.

Borrowers who complete hold a median of $19,500 in federal loans. That amount is $576 below the $20,076 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $222 a month if repaid over ten years.

Median Parent PLUS borrowing, a separate parent-borrower population, is $25,729. The estimated monthly student payment if repaid over ten years is $222.

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

Financial GPS

What does repayment look like?

Institution median student debt
$19,500
Institution Parent PLUS debt
$25,729

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

Estimated student payment · monthly
$222/mo
Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly
$327/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 / UMN briefing

UMN career outcomes & earnings[3][8][9]

At University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, completers earn about $5,833 more than the model expects for similar students, a result in the 73rd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Four years after completion, median earnings for working and not enrolled completers are $71,941, a level in the 79th percentile nationally.

The median is above the peer median of $65,610 for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $6,331. That places the return pillar in the 81st 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 $12,482. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $6,649.

Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $4,323. Both measures align, with pay above the peer median and earnings beyond the model's expectation.

Four years after completing a degree at University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, federally aided graduates who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $71,941. That figure sits $6,331 above the $65,610 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Azimuth places the university's earnings in the 79th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions, based on an earnings cohort of 8,856 completers. Earnings scenarios, estimated from the university's program mix, show a range from a downside of $53,789 to an upside of $99,824, with a typical scenario of $71,941.

An estimated 33.9% of graduates continue to graduate study, based on the program mix, so the four-year earnings picture captures most but not all completers. Graduates earn about $5,833 more than the model expects for similar students. That places the gap at the 73rd percentile.

Federally aided graduates of University of Minnesota-Twin Cities who are working and not enrolled earn $71,941 four years after completion, at the 79th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. That median is $6,331 above the $65,610 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Azimuth ranks the university #279 for return among nonprofit four-year institutions. Those completers earn about $5,833 more than the model expects for similar students.

Earnings beyond expectations measure the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students. That result sits at the 73rd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

What the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $12,482. What it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $6,649.

Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $4,323, alongside large programs in business, biology, social sciences, and computer science. Earnings scenarios, estimated from the program mix, range from a downside of $53,789 to an upside of $99,824.

These are estimates across the full program mix, not the observed outcomes of any single cohort. An estimated 33.9% of graduates continue to graduate study, based on the program mix.

Earnings four years after completion vary widely by field at University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, a spread captured by the earnings scenarios. The typical earnings scenario sits at $71,941, while the downside scenario is $53,789 and the upside reaches $99,824.

The highest-earning programs show what the upper end looks like in practice. Computer Engineering completers earn a median of $119,781, Computer Science graduates reach $111,661, and Computer Systems Analysis completers earn $104,839.

That last program, with 148 degrees awarded, also carries a national rank of #1 in its field.

At University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, the published cost of attendance is $30,061 (an average across living arrangements), and aid covers about 44% of that for the average aid recipient. The average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $16,778.

For the lowest income band, that figure drops to $6,642, while the highest band averages $27,008—a spread of $20,366 between the two ends. Borrowers who finish carry a median of $19,500 in federal student loans, $576 below the $20,076 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $222 a month if repaid over ten years. Parents who borrow hold a separate median of $25,729 in Parent PLUS loans.

The earnings picture and the debt picture point the same way here: graduates out-earn the model's expectation, and median federal debt sits below the median for comparable institutions. The net price spread is wide, so what a family pays depends heavily on income.

What explains value-added earnings?
Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.
+$12,482
Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.
-$6,649
Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.
+$5,833

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 / UMN briefing

UMN acceptance rate & admissions[1][10][11]

The University of Minnesota-Twin Cities admits 79.8% of applicants, a rate that sits above the median of 78.1% for comparable institutions (same type and size).

SAT: approximate enrolled-student range
Admission rate
79.7%
Approximate lower endpoint
1300
Reported average
1362
Approximate upper endpoint
1500

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 / UMN briefing

What are the largest majors at UMN?[12]

The University of Minnesota-Twin Cities awards bachelor's degrees across 84 fields with published four-year earnings, and Azimuth ranks 74 of them nationally. The highest-earning program, Computer Engineering, shows a median of $119,781 four years after completion, though it awarded only 61 degrees.

The largest program, Computer Science, awarded 533 degrees and its completers earn a median of $111,661, ranking #62 nationally in the field. Finance follows with 328 degrees awarded, median earnings of $98,279, and an Azimuth national rank of #37.

The second-largest program, Psychology, reports a more moderate median of $58,449 on 523 degrees awarded and an Azimuth national rank of #44. The earnings spread between a high-earning field like Computer Science and a larger, moderate-earning field like Psychology is wide, reflecting the different returns available across the university's program mix.

The university publishes earnings data for 84 bachelor's programs, 74 of which hold an Azimuth national rank. Two programs sit at #1 nationally: Education, with 203 degrees awarded and a median of $67,795 four years after completion, and Computer Systems Analysis, with 148 degrees awarded and a median of $104,839.

Among the largest programs, Computer Science awarded 533 degrees and ranks #62 nationally, with a median of $111,661. Psychology awarded 523 degrees, ranks #44 nationally, and shows a median of $58,449.

Finance rounds out the large programs with 328 degrees awarded, a national rank of #37, and a median of $98,279.

The University of Minnesota-Twin Cities awards bachelor's degrees across a broad set of fields, with no single family dominating the mix. Business accounts for 11.9% of degrees awarded, followed closely by Biological Sciences at 11.5% and Social Sciences at 9.9%.

The university has 74 programs with an Azimuth national rank and 84 with published four-year earnings data. The three largest programs by degrees awarded are Computer Science at 533, Psychology at 523, and Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies at 477.

The strongest programs are spread across several fields. Education is the highest-ranked program nationally, with median earnings of $67,795 four years after completion; it carries a benchmark ratio of 1.38x against the national median for its field.

Computer Systems Analysis also ranks #1 nationally and #1 in Minnesota within its field, with 148 degrees awarded and median earnings of $104,839. Computer Systems Networking and Telecommunications ranks #1 nationally and #1 in Minnesota within its field, awarding 32 degrees.

The highest-earning program is Computer Engineering, a smaller program with 61 degrees awarded and median earnings of $119,781. The pattern is one of depth rather than concentration: the largest programs are not the highest-ranked, and the highest-earning programs are not the largest.

Computer Science, the biggest program, earns $111,661 and ranks #62 nationally, while Computer Engineering earns more from a much smaller base. Programs in fields where graduates often continue to graduate study show four-year earnings below the university's highest figures, a pattern that may understate longer-term trajectories. Across all fields, 36.1% of degrees awarded are in STEM.

Four-year earnings · six largest reported fields
Computer Science 533 degrees awarded
$111,661
Psychology, General 523 degrees awarded
$58,449
Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies, Other 477 degrees awarded
$60,270
Biology, General 340 degrees awarded
$63,132
Finance and Financial Management Services 328 degrees awarded
$98,279
Physiology, Pathology and Related Sciences 287 degrees awarded
$64,629

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 / UMN briefing

How does UMN serve students from different backgrounds?

The University of Minnesota-Twin Cities stands out for mobility: Azimuth places the pillar in the 96th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The six-year graduation rate for the first-time full-time cohort is 85.3%, while Pell recipients complete at 72.3%, a figure that sits below the overall rate by 13.0 percentage points.

Graduates earn about $5,833 more than the model expects for similar students, a result that places the earnings beyond expectations measure in the 73rd percentile. A high graduation rate and above-expected earnings point the same way for this public university.

The University of Minnesota-Twin Cities enrolls 31,855 undergraduates, and its access pillar sits in the 66th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The public university admits 79.8% of applicants, a figure close to the peer median of 78.1%.

Pell Grant recipients account for 17.6% of the undergraduate body, and an estimated 21.0% of undergraduates arrive as transfers or part-time students.

06 / UMN briefing

What colleges are similar to UMN?[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 UMN.

Admissions peerUniversity of St Thomas85.4% admitted
Comparison with UMN
MeasureUMNUniversity of St Thomas
Peer earnings · 4 years$71,941$82,136+$10,195 vs UMN
Average annual net price$16,778$29,155+$12,377 vs UMN · higher cost
Admission rate79.7%85.4%
Explore University of St Thomas →
Higher-admission alternativeSaint Mary's University of Minnesota92.8% admitted
Comparison with UMN
MeasureUMNSaint Mary's University of Minnesota
Peer earnings · 4 years$71,941$72,502+$561 vs UMN
Average annual net price$16,778$11,704-$5,074 vs UMN · lower cost
Admission rate79.7%92.8%
Nearby alternativeMinnesota State University-MankatoNearby option · MN
Comparison with UMN
MeasureUMNMinnesota State University-Mankato
Peer earnings · 4 years$71,941$64,235-$7,706 vs UMN
Average annual net price$16,778$19,139+$2,361 vs UMN · higher cost
Admission rate79.7%88.4%
Explore Minnesota State University-Mankato →
Higher-earnings alternativeUniversity of Massachusetts-Lowell$81,163 earnings
Comparison with UMN
MeasureUMNUniversity of Massachusetts-Lowell
Peer earnings · 4 years$71,941$81,163+$9,222 vs UMN
Average annual net price$16,778$17,163+$385 vs UMN · higher cost
Admission rate79.7%83.0%
Explore University of Massachusetts-Lowell →
Lower-cost alternativeSaint Mary's University of Minnesota$11,704 average net price
Comparison with UMN
MeasureUMNSaint Mary's University of Minnesota
Peer earnings · 4 years$71,941$72,502+$561 vs UMN
Average annual net price$16,778$11,704-$5,074 vs UMN · lower cost
Admission rate79.7%92.8%
Similar profileUniversity of Cincinnati-Main CampusMatched across several measures
Comparison with UMN
MeasureUMNUniversity of Cincinnati-Main Campus
Peer earnings · 4 years$71,941$72,188+$247 vs UMN
Average annual net price$16,778$25,648+$8,870 vs UMN · higher cost
Admission rate79.7%85.3%
Explore University of Cincinnati-Main Campus →

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