College profile
Minnesota State University-Mankato
MN · Public · Small city · 8,974 applicants 2023
A parent's read
- The payoff holds even at full price: roughly 6× over a decade. With no aid at all — the full in-state ~$23,995/yr — a decade of median earnings (~$56,922/yr) still runs about 6× the four-year cost. This payoff doesn't depend on qualifying for anything. (Out-of-state costs more.)
- Ask the submit question deliberately. This college is test-optional — but at many such colleges, applicants who submit strong scores are admitted at meaningfully higher rates. “Optional” is a strategy decision, not a pass.
Composed from this page's data — every claim is backed by a number in the sections below.
Parent/student verdict
AccessibleAccessible for most applicants. Affordable — net price averages ~$19,139/yr among aid recipients. Major value play for in-state residents.
Best for
- In-state residents (tuition ~$9,572 — major value play)
- Students drawn to Business, Management, & Marketing or Health Professions (the two biggest majors)
The reality
- You'd be near the bottom of their admitted class if: ACT below 22 (test bands are the school's own; the GPA floor is our estimate, not a published figure)
Verdict is composed from this college's structured data (admit rate, SAT bands, net price with aid and at full price, Carnegie classification, scholarship grids) using transparent rule thresholds — not a chat-bot's opinion.
What are your child's odds here?
Enter their numbers once — this and every college page shows their verdict, and the UC campus cards on California school pages light up with it too. Free, no email.
Weighted is the higher GPA, with honors/AP credit in it — pick whichever your school reports. PSAT scores work in the SAT box.
Institutional snapshot
What kind of college is this?
5% of enrolled first-years submitted an ACT score — this range describes students who submitted, not the whole class.
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).
The real cost
What Minnesota State University-Mankato actually costs
Which side your family lands on isn't set by any national income line — it's set by Minnesota State University-Mankato's own aid decision: the gap between its price and your family's finances.
Your odds + estimated cost across your whole college list, side by side.
The payoffTen years of typical graduate pay minus four years of cost — how many dollars ahead a typical graduate runs by year ten. Check both the full-price and with-aid versions to see which applies to you; median pay reflects who a college admits and what they study as much as the college itself., both ways
+$473K ahead at full price +$493K with aidSource: College Scorecard (average net price among Title IV first-time, full-time undergraduates who received aid) and each college's published cost of attendance. We don't show the federal net-price-by-income brackets: their categories were fixed in 2008 and never adjusted, and none of the averages is your family's own number — the full story. Payoff = (10-yr median earnings × 10) − (4 years of cost), in dollars — how far ahead a typical graduate runs by year ten; medians travel with the students a college admits and the majors they choose as much as with the college itself. 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 Minnesota State University-Mankato
Top 5 fields of study by bachelor's degrees awarded (most recent IPEDS Completions). Use this to see what Minnesota State University-Mankato actually graduates — not just what it markets.
What those majors earn here
Median earnings 4 years after entry, by major — Minnesota State University-Mankato's own graduates, not national averages.
| Major (CIP) | 4-yr earnings |
|---|---|
| Air Transportation. | $103,858 |
| Construction Management. | $102,090 |
| Computer and Information Sciences, General. | $95,398 |
| Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering. | $85,655 |
| Mechanical Engineering. | $85,286 |
| Industrial Production Technologies/Technicians. | $83,115 |
| Engineering, General. | $82,903 |
| Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing. | $82,429 |
| Economics. | $80,795 |
| Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians. | $80,482 |
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 →
AI program signal
AI + computing education at Minnesota State University-Mankato
Full multi-lens comparison: /ai-colleges →
Alternatives to Minnesota State University-Mankato
Matched not just by selectivity, but by strategic goal — what a family actually decides on.
Or compare any college side-by-side
Deciding on Minnesota State University-Mankato?
Get the full picture in one free report — your child's Reach / Competitive / Match / Likely odds and your real net price, for Minnesota State University-Mankato and every other college on your list.
Get your child's odds at Minnesota State University-Mankato →Score-odds calculator · Improve the score first · Find merit aid
For Parents
Get alerts when Minnesota State University-Mankato's numbers change
New admit rates, costs, and outcomes — a few alerts a year, no spam. Your email also saves your list across devices.
Objective, government-grade data — no school pays us for placement.
At a glance
JSON · Using this page with an AI assistantMinnesota State University-Mankato is a public four-year college in MN. It admitted 91% of applicants (8,974 applied, 2023). Test policy: Test-optional.
Middle 50% of enrolled first-years who submitted that test: ACT 22–25. 5% of enrolled first-years submitted an ACT score — this range describes students who submitted, not the whole class.
Cost: about $19,139 a year on average with aid, $23,995 a year at full price for in-state students.
Median earnings ten years after entry: $56,922 a year. Payoff, meaning ten years of that pay minus four years of cost: $492,664 ahead with aid, $473,240 ahead at full price.
Highest median earnings four years after the degree, by program: Air Transportation ($103,858); Construction Management ($102,090); Computer and Information Sciences, General ($95,398).
Machine-readable version of this page: https://highschoolreach.com/colleges/minnesota-state-university-mankato.json