Home › Colleges › Pittsburg State University

College profile

Pittsburg State University

KS · Public · Distant town · 2,856 applicants 2023

88% admit rate $22,099/yr full price, in-state, before aid
Get your child's odds at Pittsburg State University Free Family Decision Report — Reach / Competitive / Match / Likely + your real net price. Pittsburg State University starts already on the list. Start →
Odds at Pittsburg 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. Major value play for in-state residents.

Best for

  • In-state residents (tuition ~$8,400 — major value play)
  • Students drawn to Business, Management, & Marketing or Engineering Technologies (the two biggest majors)

The reality

  • You'd be near the bottom of their admitted class if: ACT below 18 (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?

Carnegie classification
M1: Master's - Larger Programs
Undergraduates
4,210
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.
$8,400
sticker, before aid
Out-of-state tuition
$19,744
+$11,344 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.
88.2%
Accepts the majority
ACT middle 50%The middle half of the enrolled first-years who sent this test scored in this range — a quarter of them scored BELOW the low end and still got in, and a quarter scored above the high end. At a test-optional college the students who submitted are often a minority of the class, so the range describes them rather than everyone who enrolled. Above the top number is a genuine strength; below the bottom isn't automatic rejection.
18–24
composite
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.
$50,579
median, after entry

17% 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).

Earnings, 6 yrs after entry
$43,793
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.
$50,579
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.
57%
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."
$18,969

The real cost

What Pittsburg 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.
Aid averages aren't published federally for this college — its own calculator below shows what you'd pay.
If you don't
$22,099/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 Pittsburg State University's own aid decision: the gap between its price and your family's finances.

Get your family's number — Pittsburg 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.

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 Pittsburg State University

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

1. Business, Management, & Marketing
224 degrees · 32.5%
Broad set of corporate roles. Finance + consulting pay top, accounting + HR pay middle, sales spread is wide.
2. Engineering Technologies
158 degrees · 22.9%
Technician-track engineering roles. Strong wages, faster ramp than full engineer path.
3. Health Professions
123 degrees · 17.8%
Highest-paying group on this list, but most careers require additional training beyond a 4-year degree.
4. Education
114 degrees · 16.5%
Teaching is the largest path. Salary depends heavily on district + state.
5. Psychology
71 degrees · 10.3%
Most undergrad psych grads go into non-clinical roles. Clinical/counseling psych requires a master's or doctoral.

What those majors earn here

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

Major (CIP) Credential Cohort 1-yr earnings 4-yr earnings
Engineering/Engineering-Related Technologies/Technicians, Other. Bachelor's Degree 14 $66,582 $111,920
Construction Management. Bachelor's Degree 78 $69,733 $90,321
Industrial Production Technologies/Technicians. Bachelor's Degree 37 $64,703 $81,562
Finance and Financial Management Services. Bachelor's Degree 24 $50,450 $76,033
Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians. Bachelor's Degree 44 $57,234 $74,878
Computer Systems Analysis. Bachelor's Degree 22 $54,783 $71,199
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing. Bachelor's Degree 128 $66,243 $70,657
Accounting and Related Services. Bachelor's Degree 27 $43,624 $66,851
Business/Commerce, General. Bachelor's Degree 42 $46,738 $64,565
Marketing. Bachelor's Degree 47 $44,401 $60,219

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
0.4%
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.
1.5%
bottom 20% → top 20% by age 32
Upward rate
23.0%
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.
30%
on federal need grants — context for these numbers

Full leaderboards: /college-mobility →

Alternatives to Pittsburg 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.
Mississippi State University
MS · Public
18 stats-based + 1 competitive scholarships
University of Alabama at Birmingham
AL · Public
17 stats-based + 2 competitive scholarships
University of Mississippi
MS · Public
14 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) · $10,262 less before aid for IN residents
Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College
GA · Public
$13,956/yr full price (in-state) · $8,143 less before aid for GA residents
Indiana University-Northwest
IN · Public
$13,989/yr full price (in-state) · $8,110 less before aid for IN residents
More students move up here
Per Opportunity Insights, a larger share of these campuses' lower-income students reach the top earnings quintile than at Pittsburg 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 1.5% here)
MCPHS University
MA · Private nonprofit
9.3% mobility rate (vs 1.5% here)
Pace University
NY · Private nonprofit
8.4% mobility rate (vs 1.5% here)

Or compare any college side-by-side

Deciding on Pittsburg State University?

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

Get your child's odds at Pittsburg State University →

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

For Parents

Get alerts when Pittsburg 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

Pittsburg State University is a public four-year college in KS. It admitted 88% of applicants (2,856 applied, 2023). Test policy: Test-optional.

Middle 50% of enrolled first-years who submitted that test: ACT 18–24. 17% of enrolled first-years submitted an ACT score — this range describes students who submitted, not the whole class.

Cost: $22,099 a year at full price for in-state students, before aid.

Median earnings ten years after entry: $50,579 a year.

Highest median earnings four years after the degree, by program: Engineering/Engineering-Related Technologies/Technicians, Other ($111,920); Construction Management ($90,321); Industrial Production Technologies/Technicians ($81,562).

Economic mobility (Opportunity Insights): 7% of students came from families in the bottom fifth of income, and 23% of those reached the top fifth as adults.

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

By major: AccountingBiologyBusiness AdministrationCommunicationConstruction ManagementCriminal Justice and CriminologyEnglishFinanceInformation SystemsKinesiologyLiberal Studies (teacher preparation)MarketingNursing (BSN)PsychologySocial Work
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 →