Olivet Nazarene University

Bourbonnais, IL · Private nonprofit · 2,603 undergrads (small, suburb) · website ↗

Church of the Nazarene
Test-optional
No 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	$17,232
$30,000 – $48,000	$15,056
$48,000 – $75,000	$18,019
$75,000 – $110,000	$23,218
Over $110,000	$25,580
All incomes (average)	$20,729

Sticker tuition and fees: $38,900 in-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 Olivet Nazarene 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	$11,990
Housing and meals, off campus (not with family)	$18,180
Books and supplies	$850
Other expenses, on campus	$5,725
Other expenses, off campus	$1,000

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

What the college reported for its full-time, first-time students (681 of them) in 2022–23; 100% 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	100%	$27,899
Federal Pell GrantNeed-based, from the federal government	41%	$5,131
The college's own grants and scholarshipsNeed- or merit-based, funded by the college	100%	$23,732
Federal student loansBorrowed by the student; repaid with interest. No Parent PLUS or private loans	69%	$5,356

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: 56%
Average SAT: 1117
Median ACT: 23
Students with Pell grants: 38%
Graduation rate (6yr): 61%
Freshman retention: 71%
Median earnings @ 10yr: $53,213
Median debt at graduation: $25,000
International undergrads: 53 (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: None
Students per faculty member: 15 to 1
Faculty who are full-time: 46%
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: 490–620
SAT Math: 460–600
ACT composite: 19–26

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	Not considered
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	Not considered
Personal statement or essay	Considered if submitted
Legacy status	Not considered

First-time applicants: 4,426
Admitted: 2,961
Enrolled: 649

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%

Education15%

Health & Nursing10%

Biology & Life Sciences7%

Kinesiology & Sports Science7%

Engineering6%

Psychology5%

Communications & Media4%

Criminal Justice4%

Visual & Performing Arts4%

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 (18)

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	69	$80,396	$84,705national $88,910	$26,206
Business Administration, Management and Operations	54	$48,609	$57,973national $68,257	$24,996
Engineering, General	36	$70,017	$82,632national $89,359	$27,000
Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness	28	—	$47,435national $54,562	$24,188
Criminal Justice and Corrections	27	$46,792	$51,300national $55,378	$23,656
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods	24	$45,251	$45,455national $47,382	$23,977
Communication and Media Studies	22	$28,098	$42,321national $56,359	$25,500
Social Work	22	—	$52,114national $51,790	$26,000
Psychology, General	21	$36,063	$49,427national $50,706	$24,250
Economics	21	$61,267	$68,935national $82,686	$25,000
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas	18	$43,595	$48,009national $51,389	$27,000
Accounting and Related Services	17	—	$77,132national $76,194	$21,875
Fine and Studio Arts	16	$31,462	—national $41,367	$26,000
Biology, General	15	—	$58,864national $57,214	$24,500
Zoology/Animal Biology	15	—	—national $44,055	$24,500
Computer/Information Technology Administration and Management	13	—	—national $85,063	$26,337
Marketing	8	$46,445	$56,787national $69,303	—
Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication	6	—	$56,435national $63,560	—

Master's degrees (6)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Business Administration, Management and Operations	163	$65,608	$76,648national $103,485	$20,500
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing	56	$107,113	$119,831national $120,193	$47,666
Curriculum and Instruction	42	$60,874	$69,690national $63,399	$23,649
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas	36	$59,250	$62,544national $63,707	$20,696
Pastoral Counseling and Specialized Ministries	5	$41,201	—national $53,024	—
Health Professions Education, Ethics, and Humanities	5	—	$103,950national $100,487	—

Doctoral degrees (1)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Education, Other	4	—	$118,508national $90,635	—

Graduate certificates (2)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Special Education and Teaching	37	—	$74,766national $69,147	—
Teaching English or French as a Second or Foreign Language	26	$61,729	$74,874national $71,178	—

A dash means the Department of Education suppressed the figure because too few graduates were measured — not zero. 61 more programmes at this college have every figure suppressed and are not listed.

Contact and accreditation

Address: One University Avenue, Bourbonnais, IL 60914-2271
Phone: (815) 939-5011
Institutional accreditor: Higher Learning Commission

Is Olivet Nazarene University a reach, target, or safety for you?

Take the 5-minute quiz and see how it stacks up against 1,595 other colleges — ranked by fit and by what your family would actually pay.

Find my matches →

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.

Similar colleges in the United States

Picked by control, selectivity, mix of majors, location and size, from the same data as this page — not a judgement of quality.