College Azimuth

Research brief & institution hub

Youngstown State University

OHMedium public institution · Overall rank #515 nationally

Data snapshot Updated

Azimuth ranks Youngstown State University #515 nationally.

Who it’s a good fit for

Youngstown State University is a public university in Youngstown, Ohio, where the degree mix is led by Business and Health Professions. Affordability is the strongest , at above average.

Graduates out-earn what predicts for students like them. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures adds, while the part it cannot explain subtracts.

Return is modestly below average. The price case is straightforward: the for the lowest income band is well below the published cost.

Pell students complete at a rate that is below the overall rate, so the access picture is mixed. The admission rate is close to the median for comparable schools, and most graduates are estimated to go into work rather than further study.

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

Youngstown State University at a glance

Admissions and outcomes

Admission rate[1]
84.5%
Six-year completion[2]
50.5%
Four-year earnings[3]
$56,047

Cost and family borrowing

Average annual net price · $48–75K family income[6]
$13,369
Median student debt[4]
$24,000
Median Parent PLUS debt[7]
$16,900

Youngstown State University rankings: how Azimuth assesses value[5]

Youngstown State University is a public university in Youngstown, Ohio, enrolling 7,961 undergraduates. Its composite standing in the Azimuth ranking sits in the middle of the field among 1,467 nonprofit four-year institutions (65th percentile).

The university admits 84.5% of applicants, a rate close to the 85.9% median for comparable institutions of the same type and size. Of students who start full time, 75.7% return for a second year, against a peer median of 73.7%.

The six-year graduation rate is 50.5%, compared to a peer median of 49.1%. An estimated 33.4% of entrants arrive as transfers or part-time students, and the six-year rate describes only the first-time, full-time cohort.

The four pillars that make up the composite are spread across the ranking. Affordability is the strongest, at the 75th percentile, while return is the weakest, at the 44th percentile.

Access and mobility sit between them, at the 66th and 60th percentiles, giving the university a profile where cost measures outpace earnings measures.

Youngstown State University's strongest pillar is affordability, which sits in the 75th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The access pillar follows at the 66th percentile, and mobility at the 60th percentile.

Return is the weakest pillar, in the 44th percentile. The affordability strength reflects an average net price—what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships—that runs below the peer median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

The return pillar's position coincides with a median earnings figure that sits below the peer median. Azimuth ranks the university #515 overall among 1,467 institutions.

33.8% of undergraduates at Youngstown State University receive Pell Grants, a key measure of financial access. Pell recipients finish within six years at 35.1%, which falls 15.4 percentage points below the overall rate (50.5%) for the entering cohort.

Azimuth ranks the university #502 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $1,093 more than the model expects for similar students.

Azimuth ranks Youngstown State University #594 for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions.

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

Youngstown State University rankings in context
GeographyRank
National#515

Azimuth overall value rankings within each geographic comparison group.

National pillar percentiles

Economic mobility
National percentile: 60
Access & reach
National percentile: 66
Affordability
National percentile: 75
Return on investment
National percentile: 44

01 / Youngstown State University briefing

Youngstown State University cost & financial aid[6][7]

Youngstown State University publishes a cost of attendance of $21,708, an average across living arrangements. In-state tuition and fees are $11,113 and room and board are $11,730.

Out-of-state tuition and fees are $11,473, a modest premium over the in-state rate. After grants and scholarships, the average net price for aid recipients is $12,767, a savings of $8,941 against the sticker total.

That average net price sits below the peer median of $14,068 for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $1,301. Azimuth ranks the university #358 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions. That places the affordability pillar in the 75th percentile.

Youngstown State University publishes a cost of attendance of $21,708, an average across living arrangements. In-state tuition and fees are $11,113, and room and board are $11,730.

The average net price—what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships—is $9,328 for families earning under $30,000, $13,369 for the $48,001–$75,000 band, and $18,235 for families earning over $110,000. The spread between the lowest and highest bands is $8,907.

Azimuth ranks the university #358 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions. Aid covers about 41% of the published cost for the average aid recipient, an offset of $8,941 against the sticker price.

The average net price across all aid recipients is $12,767, which sits below the peer median of $14,068 for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $1,301. Out-of-state students face tuition and fees of $11,473, a modest premium over the in-state rate.

The median federal student debt at completion is $24,000, with 83.6% of federal aid recipients taking federal loans. That debt is above the peer median of $21,229 for comparable institutions by $2,771, and corresponds to an estimated payment of $273 a month if repaid over ten years.

Median Parent PLUS borrowing, a separate population of parent borrowers, is $16,900.

Your family income

Choose a household income range to see estimated net price.

Reported average annual net price · $48–75K$13,369

After grants and scholarships. Your aid offer may differ.

Averages within each income band; individual aid packages vary.

Borrowing and repayment at Youngstown State University

Borrowing is common at Youngstown State University and the amounts are moderate, though the typical federal debt load runs a bit higher than the peer median. About 83.6% of federal aid recipients take federal loans, and among those who complete a degree the median federal student debt is $24,000.

That median is above the $21,229 median for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $2,771. Parent borrowers, a separate population, carry a median Parent PLUS loan of $16,900.

Graduates of Youngstown State University earn about $1,093 more than the model expects for similar students, an outcome that lands in the 59th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The median earnings four years after completion are $56,047, which sits in the 36th percentile.

That figure is below the peer median of $57,301 for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $1,254. Earnings scenarios based on the university's program mix show a downside scenario of $42,057 and an upside scenario of $80,351.

Borrowers who complete a degree carry a median federal debt of $24,000, which is above the $21,229 peer median. That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $273 a month if repaid over ten years.

The return picture is mixed: graduates beat the model's expectations, yet the median earnings figure sits below the peer median, and the typical debt load is above what peers carry.

Median Parent PLUS borrowing, a separate parent-borrower population, is $16,900. The estimated monthly student payment if repaid over ten years is $273.

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

Financial GPS

What does repayment look like?

Institution median student debt
$24,000
Institution Parent PLUS debt
$16,900

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

Estimated student payment · monthly
$273/mo
Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly
$215/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 / Youngstown State University briefing

Youngstown State University career outcomes & earnings[3][8][9]

Graduates of Youngstown State University earn about $1,093 more than the model expects for similar students, a result in the 59th percentile. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $4,545.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $3,452. Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $926.

Four years after completion, completers earn a median of $56,047, which lands in the 36th percentile nationally. That figure is below the peer median of $57,301 among comparable institutions (same type and size) by $1,254.

Azimuth places the return pillar in the 44th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The return picture is mixed: graduates beat the model's expectation, but the median sits just below the peer benchmark.

Four years after completing a bachelor's degree at Youngstown State University, the median earnings of the 2,233 federally aided completers in the cohort sit at $56,047. That figure is below the peer median of $57,301 for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Graduates earn about $1,093 more than the model expects for similar students, a result that places the university in the 59th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Earnings scenarios, which reflect the university's program mix, show a typical outcome of $56,047, with a downside scenario of $42,057 and an upside scenario reaching $80,351.

An estimated 27.3% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure estimated from the program mix. The combination of earnings that modestly exceed expectations alongside a wide modeled scenario range means that program choice matters a great deal here.

Federally aided graduates who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $56,047 four years after completing a degree at Youngstown State University. The result sits in the 36th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions, $1,254 below the $57,301 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Azimuth ranks Youngstown State University #823 for return among nonprofit four-year institutions. Earnings beyond expectations measure the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students nationwide.

Graduates earn about $1,093 more than the model expects for similar students. That places the gap at the 59th 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 $4,545. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $3,452.

Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $926. Estimated from the program mix, the downside earnings scenario is $42,057 and the upside scenario is $80,351.

An estimated 27.3% of graduates continue on to graduate study based on the program mix. The earnings picture is mixed: the median falls short of the peer benchmark, yet graduates out-earn what the model predicts for students like them.

The earnings scenarios show a wide spread: the downside scenario is $42,057, the typical scenario is $56,047, and the upside scenario reaches $80,351. These are estimates from the program mix, not observed groups of graduates.

The highest-earning programs are in engineering and technology. Electrical Engineering graduates earn a median of $90,539 four years after completion, and Chemical Engineering graduates earn $89,150.

Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians graduates earn $86,361, which is above the national median for the field.

At Youngstown State University, graduates earn about $1,093 more than the model expects for similar students. The median federal student debt for borrowers who complete a degree is $24,000, which runs above 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 $273. The average net price for aid recipients is $12,767, which is below the peer median of $14,068.

Parent PLUS borrowers, a separate population, carry a median of $16,900. A net price below the peer median and earnings that run slightly ahead of the model's expectation point in the same direction.

The cost side of the equation is the stronger half of the value story here, while the debt figure sits above the peer benchmark. The affordability pillar, not the return pillar, carries the weight.

What explains value-added earnings?
Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.
+$4,545
Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.
-$3,452
Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.
+$1,093

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 / Youngstown State University briefing

Youngstown State University acceptance rate & admissions[1][10][11]

Youngstown State University admits 84.5% of applicants, a rate that sits just below the median of 85.9% for comparable institutions (same type and size).

SAT: approximate enrolled-student range
Admission rate
84.5%
Approximate lower endpoint
1010
Reported average
1120
Approximate upper endpoint
1230

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 / Youngstown State University briefing

What are the largest majors at Youngstown State University?[12]

The highest-earning programs at Youngstown State University are concentrated in engineering. Electrical Engineering leads at $90,539 four years after completion, with 27 degrees awarded.

Chemical Engineering follows at $89,150 (38 degrees awarded), and Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians reaches $86,361 on 10 degrees awarded. Among the largest programs, the spread is wide.

Nursing, the biggest by degrees awarded, shows a median of $77,576. Liberal Arts and General Studies, with 105 degrees awarded, sits at $46,399.

That gap illustrates the range of earnings across different fields at the university.

Nursing is the largest bachelor's program at Youngstown State University, with 151 degrees awarded and a median of $77,576 four years after completion. Criminal Justice follows with 129 degrees awarded and a median of $52,574.

Liberal Arts and General Studies awarded 105 degrees and shows a median of $46,399 four years after completion. The highest-earning programs include Electrical Engineering, where completers earn a median of $90,539 four years after completion with 27 degrees awarded.

Chemical Engineering follows at $89,150 four years after completion with 38 degrees awarded. Computer Science also records a median of $85,028 four years after completion with 35 degrees awarded.

The three largest program families are Business (16.8% of degrees awarded), Health Professions (15.0%), and Engineering (9.6%).

The degree mix at Youngstown State University is led by Business, which accounts for 16.8% of bachelor's degrees awarded, closely followed by Health Professions at 15.0%. Engineering is the third-largest family, making up 9.6% of degrees.

The university has 36 programs with published four-year earnings data. The largest single program is Nursing, with 151 degrees awarded, followed by Criminal Justice at 129 and Liberal Arts and General Studies at 105.

The highest-earning programs are concentrated in engineering and technology. Electrical Engineering graduates report the top median earnings four years after completion, at $90,539, from 27 degrees awarded.

Chemical Engineering is close behind at $89,150, with 38 degrees awarded. Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians is a much smaller program at 10 degrees awarded.

Its median earnings of $86,361 make it the only one of the top earners to exceed the national median for its field, with a benchmark ratio of 1.05x. The pattern here is a split between scale and payoff.

The largest programs—Nursing, Criminal Justice, and Liberal Arts and General Studies—award the most degrees but sit below the national median for their fields, with benchmark ratios of 0.87x, 0.95x, and 0.87x respectively. The strongest earnings come from engineering programs that award far fewer degrees.

15.6% of degrees awarded are in STEM fields, so the high-earning technical programs are a notable but not dominant part of the university's output.

Four-year earnings · six largest reported fields
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing 151 degrees awarded
$77,576
Criminal Justice and Corrections 129 degrees awarded
$52,574
Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities 105 degrees awarded
$46,399
Biology, General 85 degrees awarded
$52,447
Social Work 81 degrees awarded
$49,361
Business Administration, Management and Operations 79 degrees awarded
$62,697

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 / Youngstown State University briefing

How does Youngstown State University serve students from different backgrounds?

The mobility pillar sits in the 60th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The first-time full-time cohort's six-year graduation rate is 50.5%, while Pell recipients complete at 35.1% — a gap of 15.4 percentage points below the overall rate.

Four years after completion, graduates earn about $1,093 more than the model expects for similar students, a result that sits in the 59th percentile nationally. The university's earnings beyond expectations are above the model's prediction, while the Pell completion rate trails the overall graduation rate.

Youngstown State University is a public university in Youngstown, Ohio, enrolling 7,961 undergraduates. Azimuth places the university's access pillar in the 66th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The university admits 84.5% of applicants, a rate just below the peer median of 85.9%—the middle value for comparable institutions. Pell Grant recipients make up 33.8% of the undergraduate body, and an estimated 33.4% of students arrive as transfers or part-time students.

The middle 50% of enrolled students who submitted SAT scores fell between 1,010 and 1,230. For the ACT, the range was 19 to 25.

A high admission rate and a substantial Pell share point to an institution that keeps its doors open to a wide range of students.

06 / Youngstown State University briefing

What colleges are similar to Youngstown State University?[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 Youngstown State University.

Admissions peerKent State University at Kent86.3% admitted
Comparison with Youngstown State University
MeasureYoungstown State UniversityKent State University at Kent
Peer earnings · 4 years$56,047$56,839+$792 vs Youngstown State University
Average annual net price$12,767$20,787+$8,020 vs Youngstown State University · higher cost
Admission rate84.5%86.3%
Explore Kent State University at Kent →
Higher-admission alternativePoint Park University96.9% admitted
Comparison with Youngstown State University
MeasureYoungstown State UniversityPoint Park University
Peer earnings · 4 years$56,047$53,024-$3,023 vs Youngstown State University
Average annual net price$12,767$25,942+$13,175 vs Youngstown State University · higher cost
Admission rate84.5%96.9%
Nearby alternativeKent State University at KentNearby option · OH
Comparison with Youngstown State University
MeasureYoungstown State UniversityKent State University at Kent
Peer earnings · 4 years$56,047$56,839+$792 vs Youngstown State University
Average annual net price$12,767$20,787+$8,020 vs Youngstown State University · higher cost
Admission rate84.5%86.3%
Explore Kent State University at Kent →
Higher-earnings alternativeSan Jose State University$89,614 earnings
Comparison with Youngstown State University
MeasureYoungstown State UniversitySan Jose State University
Peer earnings · 4 years$56,047$89,614+$33,567 vs Youngstown State University
Average annual net price$12,767$13,760+$993 vs Youngstown State University · higher cost
Admission rate84.5%84.6%
Explore San Jose State University →
Lower-cost alternativeTrinity International University-Illinois$2,835 average net price
Comparison with Youngstown State University
MeasureYoungstown State UniversityTrinity International University-Illinois
Peer earnings · 4 years$56,047$51,985-$4,062 vs Youngstown State University
Average annual net price$12,767$2,835-$9,932 vs Youngstown State University · lower cost
Admission rate84.5%100.0%
Similar profileUniversity of Northern IowaMatched across several measures
Comparison with Youngstown State University
MeasureYoungstown State UniversityUniversity of Northern Iowa
Peer earnings · 4 years$56,047$54,830-$1,217 vs Youngstown State University
Average annual net price$12,767$15,901+$3,134 vs Youngstown State University · higher cost
Admission rate84.5%92.7%
Explore University of Northern Iowa →

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