Ball State University

Muncie, IN · Public · 13,988 undergrads (medium, city) · website ↗

Test-optional
$60 application fee

What you'll actually pay

Average net price per year — tuition, fees, room & board minus grant and scholarship aid — for in-state students by household income.

Household income	Avg net price / year
Under $30,000	$7,834
$30,000 – $48,000	$9,848
$48,000 – $75,000	$14,333
$75,000 – $110,000	$19,567
Over $110,000	$23,479
All incomes (average)	$14,940

Sticker tuition and fees: $11,082 in-state, $29,630 out-of-state — before aid, from the same earlier College Scorecard release as the net prices above.

These are averages. For an estimate for your family, use Ball State University's own net price calculator — every college that takes federal student aid must publish one.

Net price calculator ↗

Other costs of attendance, 2025–26

The college's own estimate for a full-time undergraduate for the year, before aid, from the October 2026 College Scorecard. It is a newer year than the tuition and net prices above, so don't add the two together.

Housing and meals, on campus	$12,580
Housing and meals, off campus (not with family)	$12,580
Books and supplies	$1,400
Other expenses, on campus	$2,718
Other expenses, off campus	$2,718

Grants and loans for first-year students, 2022–23

What the college reported for its full-time, first-time students (3,460 of them) in 2022–23; 97% got some kind of aid, loans included. Each average is over the students who received that kind of aid, not over everyone. It is an older year than the 2025–26 costs above.

Type of aid	Students awarded	Average amount
Any grant or scholarshipFederal, state, local and the college's own	75%	$13,046
Federal Pell GrantNeed-based, from the federal government	39%	$5,691
The college's own grants and scholarshipsNeed- or merit-based, funded by the college	57%	$7,875
Federal student loansBorrowed by the student; repaid with interest. No Parent PLUS or private loans	90%	$5,338

IPEDS, U.S. Department of Education, Student Financial Aid 2022–23 (SFA2223, provisional release); full-time, first-time degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates; public domain.

Admissions & outcomes

Acceptance rate: 86%
Average SAT: 1160
Median ACT: 24
Students with Pell grants: 35%
Graduation rate (6yr): 62%
Freshman retention: 78%
Median earnings @ 10yr: $51,833
Median debt at graduation: $23,250
International undergrads: 71 (0.5%)

For comparison, the median across all 1,596 four-year colleges on this site: graduation rate 56%, earnings ten years after entering $54,869, debt at graduation $23,250.

Admission policy, test scores and teaching

SAT/ACT policy: Test-optional
Application fee: $60
Students per faculty member: 14 to 1
Faculty who are full-time: 77%
Open admission: No

Middle 50% of test scores, fall 2024

25th to 75th percentile of enrolled first-year students who submitted scores. A quarter scored below the first figure and a quarter above the second. Section ranges can't be added together into a total-score range.

SAT Reading and Writing: 550–640
SAT Math: 530–620
ACT composite: 20–24

What the college considers in admission decisions, fall 2023

How the college said it used each item when deciding on first-time, degree- or certificate-seeking applicants for fall 2023. For SAT and ACT scores, see the fall 2024 policy above.

High school GPA	Required
High school class rank	Not considered
High school record	Required
Completion of a college-preparatory program	Required
Recommendations	Considered if submitted
Formal demonstration of competencies (e.g. portfolio)	Not considered
English proficiency test (for applicable students)	Required
Other test (Wonderlic, WISC-III, etc.)	Not considered
Work experience	Considered if submitted
Personal statement or essay	Considered if submitted
Legacy status	Not considered

First-time applicants: 28,668
Admitted: 20,525
Enrolled: 3,826

Counts of first-time, degree- or certificate-seeking students, including early decision and early action. The acceptance rate higher up this page comes from a different College Scorecard release, so it may not match these counts.

IPEDS, U.S. Department of Education, Admissions 2023–24 (ADM2023, provisional release), fall 2023; open admission from IPEDS Institutional Characteristics 2023–24 (revised); public domain.

Most popular fields of study

Share of bachelor's degrees awarded.

Business18%

Education10%

Communications & Media10%

Psychology9%

Health & Nursing8%

Visual & Performing Arts6%

Biology & Life Sciences5%

Architecture4%

Kinesiology & Sports Science4%

Criminal Justice4%

Earnings and debt by field of study

Median annual earnings of graduates who received federal student aid and were working, not studying: one year after completing (graduates of 2020–21 and 2021–22) and four years after (2017–18 and 2018–19), measured in 2022 and 2023 and shown in 2024 dollars. Median debt is federal Direct and Grad PLUS loans borrowed at this college by 2022–23 and 2023–24 graduates; it leaves out Parent PLUS and private loans. “National” is the median for the same field and credential across all US colleges.

Bachelor's degrees (59)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities	205	$37,977	$49,657national $53,072	$19,500
Psychology, General	178	$34,969	$48,421national $50,706	$19,500
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods	169	$46,703	$48,344national $47,382	$16,881
Radio, Television, and Digital Communication	165	$37,997	$47,737national $50,497	$19,500
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing	159	$77,878	$76,161national $88,910	$23,250
Business/Commerce, General	154	$51,357	$67,141national $68,407	$19,500
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas	139	$47,611	$50,260national $51,389	$20,500
Biology, General	128	$36,897	$55,097national $57,214	$24,250
Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness	106	$38,368	$55,053national $54,562	$23,560
Criminal Justice and Corrections	94	$43,604	$52,997national $55,378	$19,691
Architecture	84	$60,869	—national $66,914	$29,000
Social Work	75	$40,789	$50,321national $51,790	$18,200
Marketing	71	$47,957	$64,895national $69,303	$19,528
Finance and Financial Management Services	66	$51,243	$70,833national $83,343	$17,442
Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication	64	$42,818	$60,686national $63,560	$21,375
Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft	62	$29,486	$43,082national $39,775	$21,985
Clinical, Counseling and Applied Psychology	59	$40,594	—national $50,523	$25,000
Special Education and Teaching	54	$47,484	$51,267national $50,499	$21,625
Design and Applied Arts	51	$45,159	$53,514national $51,490	$21,462
Journalism	50	$41,202	$49,456national $56,278	$18,962
English Language and Literature, General	49	$26,820	$38,676national $48,590	$20,284
Computer Science	43	$64,021	—national $107,009	$23,474
Accounting and Related Services	43	$60,828	$75,559national $76,194	$19,000
Construction Management	41	$76,026	$90,239national $95,124	$22,055
Communication Disorders Sciences and Services	40	—	$61,677national $58,928	$18,645
Fine and Studio Arts	38	$31,189	$42,594national $41,367	$24,031
History	35	$27,321	$50,838national $50,680	$18,250
Communication and Media Studies	31	$41,059	$51,186national $56,359	$20,000
Human Development, Family Studies, and Related Services	31	$39,736	$46,269national $48,568	$21,644
Graphic Communications	27	—	—national $43,283	$26,833
Health/Medical Preparatory Programs	25	$28,417	$56,078national $61,911	$18,125
Economics	23	$55,486	—national $82,686	$18,761
Specialized Sales, Merchandising and Marketing Operations	23	$44,717	$47,584national $59,631	$18,842
Political Science and Government	21	$30,662	$58,953national $63,293	$22,000
Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods	19	$61,100	$77,774national $86,176	$13,250
Chemistry	18	$46,417	$63,764national $65,120	—
Hospitality Administration/Management	18	$43,829	$44,705national $56,726	$24,095
Human Resources Management and Services	18	$50,957	$75,822national $68,069	$25,558
Management Information Systems and Services	18	$55,265	$78,566national $83,290	$20,340
Landscape Architecture	17	$62,056	$65,382national $66,387	$29,249
Sociology	17	$36,498	$38,857national $52,657	$22,263
Anthropology	16	$31,093	$44,371national $46,676	$22,250
Music	16	—	$37,997national $42,892	$24,250
Natural Resources Conservation and Research	15	$46,393	—national $55,012	$15,531
Dance	15	—	$34,518national $39,980	—
Health Services/Allied Health/Health Sciences, General	15	$41,516	—national $61,296	$21,500
General Sales, Merchandising and Related Marketing Operations	13	$57,265	$78,401national $75,399	$17,750
City/Urban, Community, and Regional Planning	11	—	$55,663national $66,874	—
Dietetics and Clinical Nutrition Services	11	—	$55,768national $55,753	—
Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics	10	$37,497	$51,294national $55,000	$14,489
Insurance	10	$54,205	$59,612national $88,472	—
Legal Professions and Studies, Other	9	$36,779	$57,249national $57,149	$21,375
Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions	9	—	$61,584national $70,786	—
Business Administration, Management and Operations	9	$64,506	$75,703national $68,257	$22,298
Real Estate	9	$53,529	—national $84,821	—
Audiovisual Communications Technologies/Technicians	8	$38,739	—national $44,889	—
East Asian Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics	7	—	$44,208national $51,642	—
Geography and Cartography	6	$45,410	$53,992national $57,853	—
Computer Engineering Technologies/Technicians	1	$55,449	$71,514national $83,742	$20,500

Associate degrees (2)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities	36	$33,030	$47,312national $44,125	$12,000
Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions	14	—	$79,669national $65,389	$15,250

Master's degrees (24)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Special Education and Teaching	990	$60,377	$71,550national $64,397	$32,921
Business/Commerce, General	130	$99,523	$120,992national $125,988	$31,808
Clinical, Counseling and Applied Psychology	106	$54,589	$58,806national $65,184	$36,996
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods	92	$53,571	$56,692national $59,916	$22,836
Educational Administration and Supervision	78	$67,604	$77,628national $71,685	$35,095
Information Science/Studies	52	$74,373	$111,444national $112,705	$26,636
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas	52	$61,790	$66,242national $63,707	$24,886
Social Work	38	$55,907	—national $65,123	$25,144
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing	37	$103,680	$117,260national $120,193	$22,869
Communication Disorders Sciences and Services	33	$60,958	$63,638national $67,030	$40,939
Research and Experimental Psychology	31	$55,164	—national $63,216	—
Student Counseling and Personnel Services	27	$48,895	$59,019national $60,111	$13,962
Radio, Television, and Digital Communication	25	$57,291	$62,483national $75,972	—
Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness	19	$49,534	$61,569national $62,033	—
Music	19	$49,904	—national $48,285	—
Curriculum and Instruction	16	$47,667	$67,573national $63,399	—
Dietetics and Clinical Nutrition Services	15	$56,644	$58,421national $62,269	$17,281
Biology, General	14	—	$65,439national $69,830	—
Accounting and Related Services	14	$70,057	$80,463national $95,833	$17,577
Communication and Media Studies	11	$47,870	—national $71,953	—
Public Administration and Social Service Professions, Other	11	$65,211	$55,296national $70,515	—
Public Administration	9	—	$76,893national $81,408	—
Architecture	0	$61,097	—national $74,139	—
Architecture and Related Services, Other	—	—	$69,582national $71,757	—

Doctoral degrees (2)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Clinical, Counseling and Applied Psychology	16	$75,190	$98,442national $99,878	$60,607
Educational Administration and Supervision	9	$127,807	—national $100,573	$36,274

Graduate certificates (1)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Special Education and Teaching	671	$59,582	$65,194national $69,147	$35,725

A dash means the Department of Education suppressed the figure because too few graduates were measured — not zero. 115 more programmes at this college have every figure suppressed and are not listed.

Contact and accreditation

Address: 2000 W. University Ave, Muncie, IN 47306
Phone: (765) 289-1241
Institutional accreditor: Higher Learning Commission

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Sources: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (most recent cohorts) and IPEDS Fall Enrolment for international student counts. College Scorecard, October 2026 release: net price calculator link, mission flags and religious affiliation (2025–26), enrolment shares, test policy, SAT/ACT ranges and student-to-faculty ratio (fall 2024), cost-of-attendance components (2025–26), and earnings and debt by field of study. IPEDS Institutional Characteristics 2023–24 for the application fee and the IPEDS 2024 directory for the phone number. IPEDS Admissions 2023–24 (ADM2023, provisional release) for admission requirements and first-time applicants, admits and enrolments (fall 2023). IPEDS Student Financial Aid 2022–23 (SFA2223, provisional release) for grants and loans to full-time, first-time students. All are U.S. Department of Education data in the public domain. Verify current costs and requirements with the school.

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