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🎓 College profile

Henderson State University

AR · Public · Distant town · 1,814 applicants 2023

82% admit rate $27,385/yr full price

🧭 A parent's read

  • The payoff holds even at full price: roughly 4× over a decade. With no aid at all — the full in-state ~$27,385/yr — a decade of median earnings (~$43,459/yr) still runs about 4× the four-year cost. This payoff doesn't depend on qualifying for anything. (Out-of-state costs more.)
  • Worth asking: the four-year finish rate. Only 37% finish in four years here. Ask what drives that — course availability, transfers, work loads — because a fifth year is a real cost few families budget for.

Composed from this page's data — every claim is backed by a number in the sections below.

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🎯 Parent/student verdict

Likely

Accessible for most applicants. Major value play for in-state residents.

✅ Best for

  • In-state residents (tuition ~$8,244 — major value play)
  • Students drawn to Education or Health Professions (the two biggest majors)
  • Families wanting a small liberal-arts experience

Verdict is composed from this college's structured data (admit rate, SAT bands, net price by income, Carnegie classification, scholarship grids) using transparent rule thresholds — not a chat-bot's opinion.

🏛️ Institutional snapshot

What kind of college is this?

Carnegie classification
M2: Master's - Medium Programs
Total enrollment
1,456
1,000 - 4,999
In-state tuitionThe published full price before any aid. Families who don't qualify for need-based aid — common above ~$110K income — pay this, minus any merit scholarships.
$8,244
sticker, before aid
Out-of-state tuition
$10,620
+$2,376 vs in-state
Admit rateThe share of applicants a college accepts. Useful context, but your student's odds depend on their own grades and scores, not the average.
81.9%
Accepts the majority
Test policyApplicants choose whether to send SAT/ACT scores. At many such colleges, students who submit strong scores are still admitted at higher rates.
Test-optional
2023
10-yr earningsMedian yearly pay of former students ten years after they STARTED here — not ten years after graduating — all majors combined. The broadest single outcome number a college reports.
$43,459
median, after entry

Source: federal IPEDS Admissions 2023 for scores + admit rate; federal College Scorecard (20260606 vintage) for earnings + outcomes. SAT/ACT bands are the 25th–75th percentile of enrolled submitters.

📊 Outcomes & cost

What graduates actually earn, finish, and owe.

Federal College Scorecard data. Earnings are median annual income measured years after entering. Debt is for federal-aid borrowers only (cash-pay students aren't counted).

Earnings, 6 yrs after entry
$35,194
Earnings, 10 yrs after entryMedian yearly pay of former students ten years after they STARTED here — not ten years after graduating — all majors combined. The broadest single outcome number a college reports.
$43,459
4-year completionThe share of students who finish a bachelor's in four years. Nationally barely half do — and a fifth year quietly adds a full extra year of cost to the real price.
37%
Median debt (completers)The federal-loan balance of the typical graduating borrower. Families who pay cash aren't counted, so read it as "among those who borrowed."
$19,500

💰 The real cost

What families at your income actually pay

Aid recipients at Henderson State University average $23,405/yr; the full price without aid is about ~$27,385/yr. One caveat, once: every bracket figure here averages only the families in that bracket who received aid — it says nothing about whether your family will qualify.

🔎 Earning over $110K? You're above the top federal bracket — the median family headed by a 45-to-54-year-old (the prime college-parent years) earned about $134K in 2024, and the federal data lumps everyone from $110K to $1M+ into one row.

Whether you'll get need aidGrant money based on your family's finances (via FAFSA and the college's own forms), not your student's stats. at this income is entirely college-specific: a few heavily-endowed schools meet full need well past $150K, while many others give little above the brackets shown — there, merit scholarships, where offered, become the realistic lever.

Start your Family Decision Report →

Your odds + estimated net price across your whole college list — then confirm the exact figure with Henderson State University's own Net Price Calculator ↗ (10–15 min; have your tax return handy).

Family income $110k+ most Reach families
data suppressed
Family income $75-110k
data suppressed
Family income $48-75k
$25,051/yr
Family income $30-48k
$23,208/yr
Family income $0-30k
$23,386/yr

📈 The payoffTen years of typical earnings divided by four years of cost. A 3× means a decade of median pay covers the cost three times over — check both the full-price and with-aid versions to see which applies to you., both ways

4.0× at full price 4.6× with aid
Full price, no aidThe all-in yearly price — tuition, housing, food, books, fees — before any aid. This is the real "full price," not just the tuition line. (4 yrs, in-state)
$109,540
~$27,385/yr all-in (out-of-state runs higher)
Aid recipients pay (4 yrs)
$93,620
$23,405/yr average
10-yr earnings total
$434,590
$43,459/yr median, 10 yrs out
Years to recoup the cost
2.5 yrs
at full price (2.2 with aid), at the median earnings rate

Source: College Scorecard (NPT41–NPT45; Title IV first-time, full-time undergraduates; suppressed brackets = small cohorts; the $110K+ ceiling is a federal data limitation — the brackets haven't been refreshed since the early 2010s). Payoff multiple = (10-yr median earnings × 10) ÷ (4-yr cost); full price is the published cost of attendance, largely in-state for publics; earnings are 10 years after enrollment, all majors combined.

📚 What students study here

Most popular majors at Henderson State University

Top 5 fields of study by bachelor's degrees awarded (most recent IPEDS Completions). Use this to see what Henderson State University actually graduates — not just what it markets.

1. Education
79 degrees · 27.7%
Teaching is the largest path. Salary depends heavily on district + state.
2. Health Professions
69 degrees · 24.2%
Highest-paying group on this list, but most careers require additional training beyond a 4-year degree.
3. Business, Management, & Marketing
63 degrees · 22.1%
Broad set of corporate roles. Finance + consulting pay top, accounting + HR pay middle, sales spread is wide.
4. Liberal Arts, Humanities, & General Studies
38 degrees · 13.3%
Flexible degree → many paths. Real outcomes depend on the second skill (data, coding, teaching cert).
5. Visual & Performing Arts
36 degrees · 12.6%
Highly variable. Steady-pay roles cluster in design, illustration, production. Performance careers have very wide income distributions.

💼 What those majors earn here

Median earnings 4 years after entry, by major — Henderson State University's own graduates, not national averages.

Major (CIP) Credential Cohort 1-yr earnings 4-yr earnings
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing. Bachelor's Degree 64 $72,326 $68,733
Accounting and Related Services. Bachelor's Degree 25 — $62,161
Business/Commerce, General. Bachelor's Degree 63 $36,606 $48,955
Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities. Bachelor's Degree 34 $32,875 $46,783
Social Work. Bachelor's Degree 15 $22,458 $42,453
Psychology, General. Bachelor's Degree 38 $21,846 $41,112
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods. Bachelor's Degree 43 $36,511 $40,226

Sources: IPEDS Completions (C2023_a; bachelor's-level first majors, 2-digit CIP family — share is of the top 5 only) · College Scorecard program-level outcomes (PP-FOS). Full college-vs-major comparison: /college-outcomes →

📈 Student body & economic mobility

Who attends here — and what the campus adds.

Opportunity Insights data. Why it matters even if you're full-pay: a high mobility rate means the campus itself confers earnings power — the outcomes aren't just selection effects.

Top-1% access
0.5%
from top-1% households
Mobility rateThe share of ALL students who arrived from the bottom 20% of family incomes AND reached the top 20% themselves by their early 30s — access and lift in one number, and a sign the campus itself adds earnings power.
2.4%
bottom 20% → top 20% by age 32
Upward rate
17.8%
of lower-income students who reach the top 20%
Pell recipientsStudents receiving federal Pell grants, which go to lower- and middle-income families — the standard shorthand for a college's economic mix.
46%
on federal need grants — context for these numbers

Full leaderboards: /college-mobility →

🤖 AI program signal

AI + computing education at Henderson State University

CS degrees (annual)
4
CIP 11.0701 + 11.0101

Full multi-lens comparison: /ai-colleges →

Alternatives to Henderson State University

Matched not just by selectivity, but by strategic goal — what a family actually decides on.

🏆 Better merit-aid options
These similar-selectivity schools publish merit scholarships your family can plan around — your kid’s stats could unlock real scholarship dollars.
University of Alabama in Huntsville
AL · Public
39 stats-based merit scholarships
Texas Tech University
TX · Public
30 stats-based + 1 competitive scholarships
The University of Alabama
AL · Public
21 stats-based + 2 competitive scholarships
💰 Lower full price
Similar selectivity, but a meaningfully lower full sticker price — the comparison that matters most for families who won't qualify for much need-based aid.
Indiana University-Kokomo
IN · Public
$11,837/yr full price (in-state) · $15,548 less before aid
Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College
GA · Public
$13,956/yr full price (in-state) · $13,429 less before aid
Indiana University-Northwest
IN · Public
$13,989/yr full price (in-state) · $13,396 less before aid
🛡️ Safer in-state options
Same state and similar selectivity, but with a more forgiving admit rate — useful safety / match anchors.
Arkansas Tech University
AR · Public
96% admit rate (vs 82% here)
🚀 Stronger campus value-add
Per Opportunity Insights, these campuses add more earnings power to the students they enroll than Henderson State University does — a quality signal, not a cost play.
California State University-Los Angeles
CA · Public
9.9% mobility rate (vs 2.4% here)
Pace University
NY · Private nonprofit
8.4% mobility rate (vs 2.4% here)
CUNY New York City College of Technology
NY · Public
8.3% mobility rate (vs 2.4% here)

⚖️ Or compare any college side-by-side

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