College Azimuth

Research brief & institution hub

University of Wisconsin-River Falls

WIMedium public institution · Overall rank #638 nationally

Data snapshot Updated

Azimuth ranks the University of Wisconsin-River Falls #638 nationally.

Who it’s a good fit for

University of Wisconsin-River Falls is a public university in River Falls, Wisconsin, where Agriculture & Natural Resources and Business lead the degree mix. Affordability is well above average, the university's strongest .

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 finish at a rate slightly above the entering cohort as a whole, and mobility is above average. The lowest income band pays well under the published cost, while the highest band pays close to it.

The admission rate is below the median for comparable schools. Most graduates are estimated to go into work rather than on to further study.

A student drawn to the largest programs should know that the best-paid ones are much smaller.

University of Wisconsin-River Falls at a glance

Admissions and outcomes

Admission rate[1]
81.7%
Six-year completion[2]
57.0%
Four-year earnings[3]
$54,923

Cost and family borrowing

Average annual net price · $48–75K family income[6]
$10,796
Median student debt[4]
$20,500
Median Parent PLUS debt[7]
$14,500

University of Wisconsin-River Falls rankings: how Azimuth assesses value[5]

The University of Wisconsin-River Falls is a public university in River Falls, Wisconsin, enrolling 4,205 undergraduates. Its composite standing sits in the middle of the Azimuth ranking among nonprofit four-year institutions (57th percentile).

The university admits 81.7% of applicants, a rate slightly below the 85.9% median for comparable institutions (same type and size). Of students who start full time, 76.4% return for a second year, against a peer median of 73.7%.

The six-year graduation rate is 57.0%, compared with a median of 49.1% for similar schools. An estimated 17.4% of entrants arrive as transfers or part-time students, so the graduation rate describes a majority of the student body but not everyone who studies here.

The four pillars show a clear shape: affordability is the strongest and access is the weakest. Mobility sits well above return.

The spread between the strongest and weakest pillars is wide, with affordability and mobility sitting high while return and access sit low.

Affordability is the strongest pillar for University of Wisconsin-River Falls, landing in the 81st percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Azimuth ranks the university #274 for affordability, which means the average net price—what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships—stays low relative to the 1,467 schools among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Mobility follows at the 72nd percentile. The return pillar sits in the 34th percentile, and access is the weakest pillar at the 32nd percentile.

The affordability and mobility pillars both sit well above the median, while return and access land below it.

The middle 50% of submitted ACT scores fell between 19 and 26. 20.8% of undergraduates receive Pell Grants.

Azimuth ranks University of Wisconsin-River Falls #993 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions. Pell recipients complete at 58.6%, 1.6 percentage points above the rate for the entering cohort as a whole (57.0%).

Azimuth ranks the university #407 for mobility. Graduates earn about $8,815 less than the model expects for similar students.

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

University of Wisconsin-River Falls rankings in context
GeographyRank
National#638

Azimuth overall value rankings within each geographic comparison group.

National pillar percentiles

Economic mobility
National percentile: 72
Access & reach
National percentile: 32
Affordability
National percentile: 81
Return on investment
National percentile: 34

01 / University of Wisconsin-River Falls briefing

University of Wisconsin-River Falls cost & financial aid[6][7]

Affordability is the strongest pillar at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, and the numbers bear that out. The published cost of attendance is $19,781, with in-state tuition and fees at $9,008 and room and board at $7,982.

Out-of-state students face a higher tuition of $17,470. After grants and scholarships, the average net price for aid recipients drops to $14,054, a savings of $5,727 against the sticker total.

That sits below the peer median of $14,068 for comparable institutions (same type and size), by a slim $14. Azimuth ranks the university #274 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions. For the lowest-income families, the average net price is $8,472.

The published cost of attendance at University of Wisconsin-River Falls is $19,781. Azimuth ranks the university #274 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $8,472 for families earning under $30,000, $10,796 for those earning $48,001 to $75,000, and $18,234 for those earning over $110,000. The spread between the lowest and highest bands is $9,762.

Aid covers about 29% of the published cost for the average aid recipient, bringing the average net price across all bands to $14,054. That figure is $14 below the $14,068 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Borrowers who finish carry a median of $20,500 in federal student loans, $729 below the $21,229 peer median. 90.7% of federal aid recipients take federal loans.

Parents who borrow through Parent PLUS hold a separate median of $14,500. If repaid over ten years, the median federal student debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $233 a month.

Your family income

Choose a household income range to see estimated net price.

Reported average annual net price · $48–75K$10,796

After grants and scholarships. Your aid offer may differ.

Averages within each income band; individual aid packages vary.

Borrowing and repayment at University of Wisconsin-River Falls

The University of Wisconsin-River Falls keeps federal borrowing below the peer median, even though 90.7% of federal aid recipients take federal loans. Completing borrowers leave with a median federal debt of $20,500.

That median is below the $21,229 median at comparable institutions (same type and size) by $729. A separate population of parent borrowers carries a median Parent PLUS loan of $14,500.

The return picture at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls is mixed. Graduates earn a median of $54,923 four years after completion, in the 32nd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

That figure sits below the $57,301 median for comparable institutions (same type and size). Graduates earn about $8,815 less than the model expects for similar students, an outcome in the 22nd percentile.

Earnings scenarios derived from the university's program mix show a downside scenario of $46,795 and an upside scenario of $71,264. Borrowers finish with a median federal debt of $20,500, which is below the peer median.

That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $233 a month if repaid over ten years. Earnings that fall short of the model's expectation sit alongside a debt load that is only slightly below the peer median.

Median Parent PLUS borrowing, a separate parent-borrower population, is $14,500. The estimated monthly student payment if repaid over ten years is $233.

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

Financial GPS

What does repayment look like?

Institution median student debt
$20,500
Institution Parent PLUS debt
$14,500

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

Estimated student payment · monthly
$233/mo
Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly
$184/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 Wisconsin-River Falls briefing

University of Wisconsin-River Falls career outcomes & earnings[3][8][9]

Azimuth places the university at the 34th percentile for return among nonprofit four-year institutions. Four years after completing a degree, federally aided graduates who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $54,923, at the 32nd percentile.

That is $2,378 below the $57,301 median for comparable institutions (same type and size). Graduates earn about $8,815 less than the model expects for similar students.

That places the gap at the 22nd percentile. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures adds $3,567.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $12,382. Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $1,108.

Four years after completing a bachelor's degree at University of Wisconsin-River Falls, the median earnings of the 1,522 graduates in the federal cohort sit at $54,923. That figure is below the median of $57,301 for comparable institutions (same type and size), placing the university in the 32nd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Graduates earn about $8,815 less than the model expects for similar students, a result that ranks in the 22nd percentile nationally. Earnings scenarios anchored on the university's program mix show a typical outcome that matches the observed median, with a downside scenario of $46,795 and an upside scenario reaching $71,264.

An estimated 28.8% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure estimated from the program mix. The earnings picture is mixed: the median sits below the peer benchmark and the model expects more for similar students.

Yet the upside scenario reaches into the low seventy-thousands, and several programs, including Physics and Accounting, show stronger returns.

Four years after completion, graduates of University of Wisconsin-River Falls earn a median of $54,923, a figure in the 32nd percentile nationally. The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $57,301, which leaves the university's median $2,378 below.

Graduates earn about $8,815 less than the model expects for similar students, which corresponds to the 22nd percentile. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $3,567.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $12,382. Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $1,108.

Azimuth ranks the university #973 for return among nonprofit four-year institutions. Earnings scenarios grounded in the program mix range from a downside of $46,795 to an upside of $71,264.

Animal Sciences is the largest program, with 184 degrees awarded and median earnings of $48,680 four years after completion, which is 0.98x the national median for the field. Business Administration and Management awarded 173 degrees and reaches $65,509 (0.96x the national median).

The highest-earning program is Physics, where 13 degrees awarded coincide with a median of $85,638 (1.11x the national median). Biology also lands above its benchmark at $60,875 (1.06x).

The pattern is split: the two largest programs sit at or below their national medians, while smaller programs in the sciences, such as Physics and Biology, exceed theirs.

The earnings scenarios at the university span from a downside of $46,795 to an upside of $71,264, a range that reflects the variation in program-level outcomes four years after completion. The highest-earning programs illustrate this spread.

Physics completers earn a median of $85,638, while Accounting graduates reach $73,583. The largest program, Animal Sciences, with 184 degrees awarded, shows a median of $48,680.

At University of Wisconsin-River Falls, the strongest pillar is affordability, and the numbers show why. The average net price for aid recipients—what they pay after grants and scholarships—is $14,054, which is below the median of $14,068 for comparable institutions (same type and size).

The median federal student debt for borrowers who complete a degree is $20,500, which is below the peer median of $21,229. If repaid over ten years, that debt would mean a monthly payment of $233.

Parent PLUS borrowers, a separate population, carry a median of $14,500. Graduates earn about $8,815 less than the model expects for similar students.

A low net price and a debt load that sits below the peer median point the same way, even as the earnings picture remains mixed.

What explains value-added earnings?
Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.
+$3,567
Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.
-$12,382
Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.
-$8,815

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 Wisconsin-River Falls briefing

University of Wisconsin-River Falls acceptance rate & admissions[1][10][11]

The University of Wisconsin-River Falls admits 81.7% of applicants, a rate that sits below the median of 85.9% for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Admissions
Admission rate
81.7%
Read the full admissions brief

04 / University of Wisconsin-River Falls briefing

What are the largest majors at University of Wisconsin-River Falls?[12]

The University of Wisconsin-River Falls awards bachelor's degrees across 20 fields with published four-year earnings, and the spread between the highest- and lowest-earning programs is wide. The highest-earning field, Physics, shows a median of $85,638 four years after completion, though it awarded only 13 degrees.

Accounting follows at $73,583 with 28 degrees awarded. Business Administration and Management, the second-largest program with 173 degrees awarded, reports a median of $65,509.

The largest program, Animal Sciences, awarded 184 degrees and shows a median of $48,680, while Teacher Education reaches $46,004 on 88 degrees awarded. The contrast between the highest-earning fields and the larger, moderate-earning programs reflects the mix of agricultural, business, and education degrees that defines the university.

University of Wisconsin-River Falls publishes earnings data for 20 bachelor's programs. The largest, Animal Sciences, awarded 184 degrees and shows a median of $48,680 four years after completion.

Business Administration and Management follows with 173 degrees awarded and a median of $65,509, while Biology awarded 86 degrees and its completers earn a median of $60,875. The highest-earning program is Physics, where completers earn a median of $85,638 four years after graduating, though it awarded only 13 degrees.

Accounting is the highest-earning program with a larger footprint, awarding 28 degrees and showing a median of $73,583. The university's program mix is anchored in agriculture, business, and education, with the Agriculture & Natural Resources family accounting for 21.7% of degrees awarded.

The program mix at University of Wisconsin-River Falls is anchored in Agriculture & Natural Resources, which accounts for 21.7% of bachelor's degrees awarded, followed by Business at 15.6% and Education at 13.9%. The university has 20 programs with published four-year earnings data.

The largest single program is Animal Sciences, at 184 degrees awarded, with Business Administration and Management close behind at 173 degrees awarded and Teacher Education third at 88 degrees awarded. The highest-earning program is a much smaller one: Physics graduates earn a median of $85,638 four years after completion, from 13 degrees awarded a year.

Accounting is next at $73,583, with 28 degrees awarded, and Agricultural Engineering follows at $71,715 from 5 degrees awarded. Among the largest programs, Business Administration and Management earns $65,509, while Animal Sciences and Teacher Education sit lower at $48,680 and $46,004.

Biology, with 86 degrees awarded, earns a median of $60,875, a benchmark ratio of 1.06x against the national median for its field. The pattern is one of concentration in fields where earnings are modest relative to the national median, with higher earnings coming from small programs.

Animal Sciences, the largest program, has a benchmark ratio of 0.98x against the national median for its field, while the highest-earning programs graduate only a handful of students each year. Across all fields, 16.7% of degrees awarded are in STEM.

Four-year earnings · six largest reported fields
Animal Sciences 184 degrees awarded
$48,680
Business Administration, Management and Operations 173 degrees awarded
$65,509
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods 88 degrees awarded
$46,004
Biology, General 86 degrees awarded
$60,875
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas 75 degrees awarded
$54,043
Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication 60 degrees awarded
Too few graduates to report

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 Wisconsin-River Falls briefing

How does University of Wisconsin-River Falls serve students from different backgrounds?

Pell recipients at University of Wisconsin-River Falls complete at a rate of 58.6%, which sits above the overall six-year graduation rate of 57.0% by 1.6 percentage points. The mobility pillar sits in the 72nd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Four years after completion, graduates earn about $8,815 less than the model expects for similar students, a result that places the earnings-beyond-expectations measure in the 22nd percentile.

University of Wisconsin-River Falls is a public university in River Falls, Wisconsin, enrolling 4,205 undergraduates. The university admits 81.7% of applicants, a rate close to the peer median of 85.9%—the middle value for comparable institutions of the same type and size.

Azimuth places the access pillar, which measures how broadly a school draws its student body, in the 32nd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Pell Grant recipients, a measure of financial access, make up 20.8% of the undergraduate body, while an estimated 17.4% of students arrive as transfers or part-time students. Access is the lowest of the university's four pillars.

06 / University of Wisconsin-River Falls briefing

What colleges are similar to University of Wisconsin-River Falls?[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 Wisconsin-River Falls.

Admissions peerUniversity of Wisconsin-Stout87.7% admitted
Comparison with University of Wisconsin-River Falls
MeasureUniversity of Wisconsin-River FallsUniversity of Wisconsin-Stout
Peer earnings · 4 years$54,923$64,234+$9,311 vs University of Wisconsin-River Falls
Average annual net price$14,054$17,490+$3,436 vs University of Wisconsin-River Falls · higher cost
Admission rate81.7%87.7%
Explore University of Wisconsin-Stout →
Higher-admission alternativeUniversity of Northwestern-St Paul93.5% admitted
Comparison with University of Wisconsin-River Falls
MeasureUniversity of Wisconsin-River FallsUniversity of Northwestern-St Paul
Peer earnings · 4 years$54,923$57,471+$2,548 vs University of Wisconsin-River Falls
Average annual net price$14,054$27,705+$13,651 vs University of Wisconsin-River Falls · higher cost
Admission rate81.7%93.5%
Explore University of Northwestern-St Paul →
Nearby alternativeUniversity of Wisconsin-La CrosseNearby option · WI
Comparison with University of Wisconsin-River Falls
MeasureUniversity of Wisconsin-River FallsUniversity of Wisconsin-La Crosse
Peer earnings · 4 years$54,923$60,184+$5,261 vs University of Wisconsin-River Falls
Average annual net price$14,054$16,210+$2,156 vs University of Wisconsin-River Falls · higher cost
Admission rate81.7%75.5%
Explore University of Wisconsin-La Crosse →
Higher-earnings alternativeSan Jose State University$89,614 earnings
Comparison with University of Wisconsin-River Falls
MeasureUniversity of Wisconsin-River FallsSan Jose State University
Peer earnings · 4 years$54,923$89,614+$34,691 vs University of Wisconsin-River Falls
Average annual net price$14,054$13,760-$294 vs University of Wisconsin-River Falls · lower cost
Admission rate81.7%84.6%
Explore San Jose State University →
Lower-cost alternativeSan Diego Christian College$992 average net price
Comparison with University of Wisconsin-River Falls
MeasureUniversity of Wisconsin-River FallsSan Diego Christian College
Peer earnings · 4 years$54,923$50,741-$4,182 vs University of Wisconsin-River Falls
Average annual net price$14,054$992-$13,062 vs University of Wisconsin-River Falls · lower cost
Admission rate81.7%30.8%
Similar profileEastern Illinois UniversityMatched across several measures
Comparison with University of Wisconsin-River Falls
MeasureUniversity of Wisconsin-River FallsEastern Illinois University
Peer earnings · 4 years$54,923$53,620-$1,303 vs University of Wisconsin-River Falls
Average annual net price$14,054$12,786-$1,268 vs University of Wisconsin-River Falls · lower cost
Admission rate81.7%65.4%
Explore Eastern Illinois University →

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