Fort Hays State University

Hays, KS · Public · 9,733 undergrads (medium, town) · website ↗

Test-optional
$30 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	$7,661
$30,000 – $48,000	$9,776
$48,000 – $75,000	$11,941
$75,000 – $110,000	$14,266
Over $110,000	$16,641
All incomes (average)	$12,569

Sticker tuition and fees: $5,923 in-state, $17,741 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 Fort Hays 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	$9,438
Housing and meals, off campus (not with family)	$9,458
Books and supplies	$1,000
Other expenses, on campus	$5,146
Other expenses, off campus	$5,146

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

What the college reported for its full-time, first-time students (760 of them) in 2022–23; 95% 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	85%	$6,338
Federal Pell GrantNeed-based, from the federal government	33%	$4,739
The college's own grants and scholarshipsNeed- or merit-based, funded by the college	78%	$4,038
Federal student loansBorrowed by the student; repaid with interest. No Parent PLUS or private loans	43%	$4,612

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: 90%
Average SAT: 1089
Median ACT: —
Students with Pell grants: 23%
Graduation rate (6yr): 48%
Freshman retention: 77%
Median earnings @ 10yr: $48,928
Median debt at graduation: $21,000
International undergrads: 213 (2.1%)

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: $30
Students per faculty member: 15 to 1
Faculty who are full-time: 52%
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: 500–580
SAT Math: 470–560
ACT composite: 18–24

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	Considered if submitted
High school class rank	Not considered
High school record	Considered if submitted
Completion of a college-preparatory program	Considered if submitted
Recommendations	Not considered
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	Not considered
Personal statement or essay	Not considered
Legacy status	Not considered

First-time applicants: 2,174
Admitted: 1,995
Enrolled: 886

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.

Business32%

Education13%

Health & Nursing13%

Social Sciences7%

Computer Science6%

Psychology4%

Agriculture3%

English & Literature3%

Biology & Life Sciences2%

Visual & Performing Arts2%

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 (27)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Finance and Financial Management Services	290	$49,990	$64,524national $83,343	$17,895
Business Administration, Management and Operations	234	$52,539	$61,153national $68,257	$22,707
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods	187	$43,387	$45,190national $47,382	$19,000
Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities	137	$43,618	$53,176national $53,072	$21,845
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing	120	$79,855	$79,957national $88,910	$14,750
Computer Programming	102	$73,010	$73,380national $83,439	$19,705
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas	101	$47,919	$53,945national $51,389	$16,682
Psychology, General	101	$40,845	$51,898national $50,706	$19,500
Marketing	84	$50,419	$62,261national $69,303	$12,970
Biology, General	49	$37,096	$58,355national $57,214	$19,499
Information Science/Studies	48	$58,314	$67,823national $85,294	$21,271
Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions	47	$69,894	$58,463national $70,786	$19,600
Accounting and Related Services	47	$60,972	$63,148national $76,194	$22,850
Agricultural Business and Management	45	$50,763	$58,520national $66,647	$14,200
Agriculture, General	43	$47,797	—national $53,676	$15,250
Criminal Justice and Corrections	43	$47,135	$55,790national $55,378	$23,335
Social Work	41	$46,570	$53,549national $51,790	$17,500
Engineering Technologies/Technicians, General	29	$67,099	—national $80,526	$19,500
Sociology	27	$44,430	$44,405national $52,657	$27,554
Fine and Studio Arts	27	$36,307	$39,280national $41,367	$20,287
Communication Disorders Sciences and Services	26	—	$50,246national $58,928	$15,544
Hospitality Administration/Management	18	$42,847	—national $56,726	—
History	17	—	—national $50,680	$22,334
Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences	15	$45,786	—national $60,190	$20,513
Political Science and Government	12	—	$72,384national $63,293	—
Chemistry	6	—	—national $65,120	$17,393
Business, Management, Marketing, and Related Support Services, Other	—	$38,521	$65,526national $69,830	—

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	38	$31,455	—national $44,125	$13,000
Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions	35	$60,619	$62,165national $65,389	$16,350

Master's degrees (15)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Education, General	185	$54,070	$55,830national $65,824	$20,261
Special Education and Teaching	116	$52,689	$60,958national $64,397	$20,500
Business Administration, Management and Operations	72	$77,547	$98,630national $103,485	$29,374
Student Counseling and Personnel Services	56	$56,038	$51,758national $60,111	$31,004
Educational Administration and Supervision	53	$63,124	$71,570national $71,685	$24,447
Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies, Other	45	$69,486	$66,697national $75,122	$24,662
Educational/Instructional Media Design	38	$59,110	$64,964national $70,644	$27,805
Psychology, General	32	$54,889	$66,852national $64,711	$22,000
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas	24	$50,847	$51,641national $63,707	—
History	23	$67,007	—national $55,360	—
Communication Disorders Sciences and Services	18	—	$59,149national $67,030	—
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing	17	$85,619	—national $120,193	—
Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities	16	$56,574	$65,851national $65,716	—
Research and Experimental Psychology	—	—	$66,097national $63,216	—
Mental and Social Health Services and Allied Professions	—	$56,730	—national $59,571	$24,569

Doctoral degrees (1)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing	—	$138,782	—national $138,131	—

A dash means the Department of Education suppressed the figure because too few graduates were measured — not zero. 37 more programmes at this college have every figure suppressed and are not listed.

Contact and accreditation

Address: 600 Park St, Hays, KS 67601-4099
Phone: (785) 628-4000
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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