Kansas State University

Manhattan, KS · Public · 15,142 undergrads (large, city) · website ↗

Test-optional
$40 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	$13,178
$30,000 – $48,000	$14,143
$48,000 – $75,000	$15,369
$75,000 – $110,000	$20,110
Over $110,000	$23,665
All incomes (average)	$19,406

Sticker tuition and fees: $11,221 in-state, $28,568 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 Kansas 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	$13,652
Housing and meals, off campus (not with family)	$9,580
Books and supplies	$1,062
Other expenses, on campus	$3,144
Other expenses, off campus	$3,144

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

What the college reported for its full-time, first-time students (2,839 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	90%	$9,391
Federal Pell GrantNeed-based, from the federal government	18%	$4,805
The college's own grants and scholarshipsNeed- or merit-based, funded by the college	88%	$8,131
Federal student loansBorrowed by the student; repaid with interest. No Parent PLUS or private loans	40%	$5,080

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: 82%
Average SAT: 1151
Median ACT: —
Students with Pell grants: 21%
Graduation rate (6yr): 71%
Freshman retention: 86%
Median earnings @ 10yr: $57,262
Median debt at graduation: $21,250
International undergrads: 279 (1.8%)

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: $40
Students per faculty member: 19 to 1
Faculty who are full-time: 90%
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: 510–620
ACT composite: 20–27

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	Considered if submitted
High school record	Required
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)	Not considered
Other test (Wonderlic, WISC-III, etc.)	Not considered
Work experience	Considered if submitted
Personal statement or essay	Not considered
Legacy status	Not considered

First-time applicants: 13,437
Admitted: 10,663
Enrolled: 3,187

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.

Business28%

Agriculture12%

Engineering10%

Education8%

Biology & Life Sciences7%

Social Sciences3%

Health & Nursing3%

Psychology3%

Communications & Media2%

Computer Science2%

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 (64)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods	222	$44,776	$46,562national $47,382	$18,500
Animal Sciences	171	$42,495	$50,941national $49,634	$19,250
Finance and Financial Management Services	169	$57,056	$75,705national $83,343	$16,955
Marketing	159	$52,091	$69,837national $69,303	$19,500
Business Administration, Management and Operations	158	$55,422	$69,735national $68,257	$18,266
Physiology, Pathology and Related Sciences	155	$34,906	$65,677national $62,172	$19,500
Nutrition Sciences	138	$40,506	$62,128national $60,053	$22,079
Mechanical Engineering	130	$76,470	$88,533national $92,135	$20,966
Computer and Information Sciences, General	101	$77,074	$107,194national $92,374	$19,500
Biology, General	94	$32,358	$57,718national $57,214	$18,046
Agricultural Business and Management	91	$56,866	$66,387national $66,647	$16,500
Research and Experimental Psychology	91	$37,868	$53,337national $55,695	$16,447
Air Transportation	87	$68,020	$85,147national $85,825	$20,500
Human Development, Family Studies, and Related Services	81	$39,896	$47,528national $48,568	$20,280
Accounting and Related Services	76	$61,163	$79,008national $76,194	$19,500
Dietetics and Clinical Nutrition Services	69	$45,520	$59,824national $55,753	$21,792
Construction Engineering Technology/Technician	61	$76,364	$91,809national $93,843	$24,125
Plant Sciences	56	$48,690	$58,603national $56,567	$19,625
Journalism	54	$44,562	$56,418national $56,278	$20,155
Natural Sciences	52	$40,805	$68,243national $57,935	$19,551
General Sales, Merchandising and Related Marketing Operations	52	$69,731	—national $75,399	$15,604
Social Sciences, General	50	$47,165	$50,681national $53,366	$25,000
Business/Commerce, General	50	$50,959	$70,601national $68,407	$23,250
Industrial Engineering	48	$76,806	$93,098national $98,442	$11,000
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas	40	$46,209	$48,801national $51,389	$20,249
Social Work	39	$40,623	$50,480national $51,790	$16,554
Communication Disorders Sciences and Services	39	—	$61,621national $58,928	$19,500
Chemical Engineering	36	$79,877	$92,068national $98,158	$13,000
Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering	35	$85,457	$95,640national $100,647	$25,494
Management Information Systems and Services	34	$64,298	$85,396national $83,290	$18,920
Architectural Engineering	33	$76,714	$91,336national $89,406	$25,000
Civil Engineering	33	$76,680	$83,453national $86,517	$19,500
Food Science and Technology	32	$68,015	$78,367national $70,873	$23,250
Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions	32	—	$55,985national $70,786	$19,500
Sociology	31	$38,635	$51,237national $52,657	$24,406
Education, General	30	—	—national $49,808	$20,550
Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations	29	$44,035	$59,809national $61,027	$19,500
Agricultural and Food Products Processing	27	$87,336	$91,040national $80,757	$16,862
Engineering Technologies/Technicians, General	27	—	$72,544national $80,526	$22,724
Apparel and Textiles	26	$46,253	$57,576national $57,640	$19,500
Zoology/Animal Biology	26	$32,056	$48,908national $44,055	$20,364
Agricultural Engineering	25	$73,043	$81,376national $84,624	$22,420
Linguistic, Comparative, and Related Language Studies and Services	25	—	—national $49,984	$16,828
Political Science and Government	25	$39,380	$63,811national $63,293	$23,239
Fine and Studio Arts	25	$35,636	$39,991national $41,367	$26,402
Agricultural Public Services	24	$46,167	—national $54,152	$11,361
English Language and Literature, General	23	—	$50,448national $48,590	$17,425
Parks, Recreation, and Leisure Facilities Management	23	$40,348	$50,522national $50,468	$18,375
Communication and Media Studies	22	$41,471	$52,603national $56,359	$16,750
Computer Engineering	22	$82,849	—national $109,015	—
Hospitality Administration/Management	21	$49,408	$58,282national $56,726	—
Mathematics	20	—	$55,435national $69,562	$18,375
Economics	18	$50,396	$71,747national $82,686	—
History	15	—	$50,016national $50,680	$20,625
Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology	14	—	$65,122national $65,466	—
Family and Consumer Sciences/Human Sciences, General	12	—	$49,593national $48,460	—
Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft	12	—	$39,598national $39,775	—
Agricultural Mechanization	11	—	$78,537national $71,278	—
Natural Resources and Conservation, Other	11	$42,158	$53,401national $48,754	—
Anthropology	11	$19,282	$41,426national $46,676	—
Natural Resources Conservation and Research	5	—	$72,398national $55,012	—
Gerontology	—	—	$60,172national $54,051	—
International/Globalization Studies	—	—	$53,389national $59,972	—
Design and Applied Arts	—	$53,446	$61,150national $51,490	—

Master's degrees (18)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods	126	$48,118	$53,073national $59,916	$25,500
Architectural Sciences and Technology	88	$61,551	—national $77,466	$33,712
Student Counseling and Personnel Services	83	$52,532	$56,320national $60,111	$25,935
Business Administration, Management and Operations	71	$80,715	$97,031national $103,485	$24,323
Accounting and Related Services	59	$66,459	$87,506national $95,833	$17,083
Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions	47	—	—national $127,347	$84,822
Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Other	45	—	—national $77,545	$32,500
Food Science and Technology	42	$93,675	$105,978national $88,332	—
Finance and Financial Management Services	33	—	$101,913national $110,694	$20,412
Agricultural Business and Management	32	$74,336	$115,779national $90,332	—
Human Development, Family Studies, and Related Services	31	$58,557	$60,479national $58,524	$34,781
Interior Architecture	29	$61,767	—national $66,993	$33,246
Curriculum and Instruction	22	$52,859	$59,517national $63,399	—
Public Health	19	—	$62,660national $82,751	—
Research and Experimental Psychology	13	$82,906	$74,638national $63,216	—
Educational Administration and Supervision	10	$64,497	$70,185national $71,685	$38,801
Animal Sciences	8	—	$96,821national $75,394	—
Veterinary Biomedical and Clinical Sciences	0	—	$110,015national $119,562	—

First professional degrees (1)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Veterinary Medicine	120	$100,654	$119,983national $131,316	$177,815

Doctoral degrees (1)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Family and Consumer Sciences/Human Sciences, General	10	—	$70,180national $80,463	—

A dash means the Department of Education suppressed the figure because too few graduates were measured — not zero. 220 more programmes at this college have every figure suppressed and are not listed.

Contact and accreditation

Address: 919 Mid-Campus Drive, Anderson Hall, Manhattan, KS 66506
Phone: (785) 532-6011
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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