Home › Colleges › Nevada State University

College profile

Nevada State University

NV · Public · Fringe rural · 1,733 applicants 2023

86% admit rate $14K–$24K/yr in-state — aid decides

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 ~$23,718/yr — a decade of median earnings (~$53,166/yr) still runs about 6× the four-year cost. This payoff doesn't depend on qualifying for anything. (Out-of-state costs more.)
  • Worth asking: do students finish? Only 34% graduate within six years here — the standard federal measure. Ask what drives that: course availability, transfers out, students working long hours. Not finishing is the costliest outcome there is.

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

Get your child's odds at Nevada State University Free Family Decision Report — Reach / Competitive / Match / Likely + your real net price. Nevada State University starts already on the list. Start →
Odds at Nevada State University

Put in your child's GPA and score — we'll show where they land here. Free, and nothing to sign up for.

Most families report the weighted one — it's the higher number, with honors and AP credit in it.

—

This reads the numbers — admit rate, scores, GPA. The real decision also weighs essays, recommendations, activities, and course rigor.

Get their full list — free Family Decision Report →

The free report adds every college on your list — Reach / Competitive / Match / Likely odds, your real net price, and merit-scholarship eligibility. About a minute.

Live odds from each college's own published admissions data.

Parent/student verdict

Accessible

Accessible for most applicants. Affordable — net price averages ~$14,068/yr among aid recipients. Major value play for in-state residents.

Best for

  • In-state residents (tuition ~$6,765 — major value play)
  • Students focused on Health Professions (the school's signature program)
  • Families wanting a small undergraduate experience

The reality

  • Out-of-state tuition is 3.2× the in-state rate

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?

Carnegie classification
Baccalaureate Colleges: Diverse Fields
Undergraduates
3,762
5,000 - 9,999 including graduate students
In-state tuitionThe published full price before any aid. Families who don't qualify for need-based aid at a given college pay this, minus any merit scholarships — whether you qualify depends on the college's price and policies, not on any fixed income line.
$6,765
sticker, before aid
Out-of-state tuition
$21,833
+$15,068 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.
86.2%
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.
$53,166
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
$47,092
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.
$53,166
Graduate within 6 yrsThe share of students who start here and finish a bachelor's within six years — the standard federal measure, and the one College Scorecard publishes. It is not a four-year rate. Read it as the odds of finishing at all: nationally about a third of students who start never do, and an unfinished degree is the most expensive outcome in this decision.
34%
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."
$19,691

The real cost

What Nevada State University actually costs

If you qualify for need aidGrant money based on your family's finances (via FAFSA and the college's own forms), not your student's stats.
$14,068/yr
average among aid-receiving families, all incomes — your number depends on your finances
If you don't
$23,718/yr
the full published price for in-state students — out-of-state runs higher

Which side your family lands on isn't set by any national income line — it's set by Nevada State University's own aid decision: the gap between its price and your family's finances.

Get your family's number — Nevada State University's Net Price Calculator ↗ 10–15 minutes; have a tax return handy. It's still an estimate — but it's this college's own, built from your family's numbers, not anyone's average.
Start your Family Decision Report →

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

+$437K ahead at full price +$475K 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)
$94,872
~$23,718/yr all-in (out-of-state runs higher)
Aid recipients pay (4 yrs)
$56,272
$14,068/yr average
10-yr earnings total
$531,660
$53,166/yr median, 10 yrs out
Years to recoup the cost
1.8 yrs
at full price (1.1 with aid), at the median earnings rate

Source: 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 Nevada State University

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

1. Health Professions
399 degrees · 56.7%
Highest-paying group on this list, but most careers require additional training beyond a 4-year degree.
2. Psychology
119 degrees · 16.9%
Most undergrad psych grads go into non-clinical roles. Clinical/counseling psych requires a master's or doctoral.
3. Education
89 degrees · 12.6%
Teaching is the largest path. Salary depends heavily on district + state.
4. Business, Management, & Marketing
50 degrees · 7.1%
Broad set of corporate roles. Finance + consulting pay top, accounting + HR pay middle, sales spread is wide.
5. Homeland Security, Law Enforcement, & Firefighting
47 degrees · 6.7%
Public-sector careers in law enforcement, corrections, security. Strong pensions, modest base.

What those majors earn here

Median earnings 4 years after entry, by major — Nevada 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 396 $85,585 $95,918
Health/Medical Preparatory Programs. Bachelor's Degree 3 $85,007 $94,433
Area Studies. Bachelor's Degree 9 $54,607 $65,406
Special Education and Teaching. Bachelor's Degree 7 $53,159 $64,201
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas. Bachelor's Degree 15 $50,691 $62,684
Business Administration, Management and Operations. Bachelor's Degree 51 $49,807 $60,273
Communication Disorders Sciences and Services. Bachelor's Degree 29 $47,833 $57,932
History. Bachelor's Degree 13 $50,149 $57,600
English Language and Literature, General. Bachelor's Degree 16 — $56,591
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods. Bachelor's Degree 48 $48,634 $54,646

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. It measures two things at once: how many lower-income students a college enrols, and how many of them reach the top earnings quintile later. A high rate says the college does both — it does not establish that the campus caused the earnings, because the students it admits differ from the students it doesn't. Read it as a signal about access and destination, not as proof of value added.

Top-1% access
1.9%
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.
0.1%
bottom 20% → top 20% by age 32
Upward rate
1.1%
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.
23%
on federal need grants — context for these numbers

Full leaderboards: /college-mobility →

Alternatives to Nevada 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
The University of Alabama
AL · Public
21 stats-based + 2 competitive scholarships
Mississippi State University
MS · Public
18 stats-based + 1 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) · $11,881 less before aid for IN residents
Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College
GA · Public
$13,956/yr full price (in-state) · $9,762 less before aid for GA residents
Indiana University-Northwest
IN · Public
$13,989/yr full price (in-state) · $9,729 less before aid for IN residents
Safer in-state options
Same state and similar selectivity, but with a more forgiving admit rate — useful safety / match anchors.
University of Nevada-Las Vegas
NV · Public
96% admit rate (vs 86% here)
More students move up here
Per Opportunity Insights, a larger share of these campuses' lower-income students reach the top earnings quintile than at Nevada State University. That reflects who they admit as well as what they do, so read it as a destination signal rather than proof of value added.
California State University-Los Angeles
CA · Public
9.9% mobility rate (vs 0.1% here)
MCPHS University
MA · Private nonprofit
9.3% mobility rate (vs 0.1% here)
Pace University
NY · Private nonprofit
8.4% mobility rate (vs 0.1% here)

Or compare any college side-by-side

Deciding on Nevada State University?

Get the full picture in one free report — your child's Reach / Competitive / Match / Likely odds and your real net price, for Nevada State University and every other college on your list.

Get your child's odds at Nevada State University →

Score-odds calculator · Improve the score first · Find merit aid

For Parents

Get alerts when Nevada State University'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 assistant

Nevada State University is a public four-year college in NV. It admitted 86% of applicants (1,733 applied, 2023). Test policy: Test-optional.

Cost: about $14,068 a year on average with aid, $23,718 a year at full price for in-state students.

Median earnings ten years after entry: $53,166 a year. Payoff, meaning ten years of that pay minus four years of cost: $475,388 ahead with aid, $436,788 ahead at full price.

Highest median earnings four years after the degree, by program: Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing ($95,918); Health/Medical Preparatory Programs ($94,433); Area Studies ($65,406).

Economic mobility (Opportunity Insights): 4% of students came from families in the bottom fifth of income, and 1% of those reached the top fifth as adults.

Machine-readable version of this page: https://highschoolreach.com/colleges/nevada-state-university.json

By major: BiologyBusiness AdministrationCriminal Justice and CriminologyEnglishHistoryLiberal Studies (teacher preparation)Nursing (BSN)Psychology

Analysis: Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach, highschoolreach.com). These figures may be quoted with attribution to Test Prep Gurus.

Get your child's odds →

What families ask next

Can my kid get in? Score odds calculator → See how a higher SAT or ACT changes admit odds — college by college. What will it cost — and pay back? Earnings by major → What graduates actually earn, program by program. What do we do next? Free Family Decision Report Reach / Competitive / Match / Likely for every college on their list, plus the real cost. Start with a 10-second odds check — no email needed. Check odds →