Wichita State University

Wichita, KS · Public · 10,780 undergrads (medium, 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	$9,734
$30,000 – $48,000	$9,696
$48,000 – $75,000	$13,564
$75,000 – $110,000	$16,893
Over $110,000	$19,184
All incomes (average)	$13,194

Sticker tuition and fees: $9,684 in-state, $19,869 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 Wichita 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	$13,540
Housing and meals, off campus (not with family)	$12,800
Books and supplies	$1,290
Other expenses, on campus	$3,700
Other expenses, off campus	$3,700

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

What the college reported for its full-time, first-time students (1,762 of them) in 2022–23; 89% 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	82%	$7,282
Federal Pell GrantNeed-based, from the federal government	41%	$5,209
The college's own grants and scholarshipsNeed- or merit-based, funded by the college	70%	$4,416
Federal student loansBorrowed by the student; repaid with interest. No Parent PLUS or private loans	41%	$7,203

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: 94%
Average SAT: 1092
Median ACT: 23
Students with Pell grants: 31%
Graduation rate (6yr): 51%
Freshman retention: 69%
Median earnings @ 10yr: $51,532
Median debt at graduation: $20,500
International undergrads: 1,841 (14.3%)

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: 64%
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: 470–610
SAT Math: 435–630
ACT composite: 17–25

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	Required
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)	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: 8,637
Admitted: 8,200
Enrolled: 1,786

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.

Business16%

Health & Nursing13%

Education12%

Engineering10%

Visual & Performing Arts7%

Computer Science5%

Biology & Life Sciences5%

Psychology5%

Criminal Justice3%

Communications & Media2%

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 (43)

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	231	$43,776	$47,389national $47,382	$19,600
Business Administration, Management and Operations	146	$51,909	$63,852national $68,257	$16,625
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing	135	$67,766	$75,784national $88,910	$17,910
Psychology, General	104	$34,327	$42,690national $50,706	$17,739
Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities	81	—	$43,452national $53,072	—
Visual and Performing Arts, General	78	$29,440	$37,012national $41,688	$23,250
Accounting and Related Services	76	$58,185	$69,696national $76,194	$20,500
Computer Science	74	$69,143	$97,335national $107,009	$18,486
Criminal Justice and Corrections	71	$43,576	$51,305national $55,378	$20,500
Finance and Financial Management Services	70	$59,986	$64,060national $83,343	$17,308
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas	69	$46,385	$51,728national $51,389	$21,780
Biology, General	68	$30,177	$56,959national $57,214	$17,500
Marketing	68	$45,117	$52,709national $69,303	$17,750
Health Services/Allied Health/Health Sciences, General	65	$40,757	$48,537national $61,296	$18,579
Mechanical Engineering	61	$71,850	$89,074national $92,135	$22,070
Aerospace, Aeronautical, and Astronautical/Space Engineering	58	$74,577	$83,057national $98,207	$27,000
Dental Support Services and Allied Professions	56	$60,183	$61,982national $68,061	$17,500
Physiology, Pathology and Related Sciences	55	$31,718	$52,833national $62,172	$13,000
Social Work	45	$36,526	$49,670national $51,790	$20,002
Human Resources Management and Services	40	$52,088	$63,150national $68,069	$14,951
Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness	39	$41,983	$47,463national $54,562	$13,235
Computer and Information Sciences, General	36	$61,319	$81,265national $92,374	$13,503
Health and Medical Administrative Services	34	$47,889	$48,446national $58,716	$22,074
Electrical and Computer Engineering	32	$73,755	—	$20,642
Communication and Media Studies	26	$38,925	$50,773national $56,359	$18,250
Political Science and Government	26	$44,935	$54,874national $63,293	$21,500
Communication Disorders Sciences and Services	26	$26,020	$55,638national $58,928	$15,833
Biomedical/Medical Engineering	25	—	$72,936national $93,451	$19,961
Design and Applied Arts	25	$26,187	$36,723national $51,490	$23,500
Industrial Engineering	23	$71,961	—national $98,442	$21,000
Business/Managerial Economics	22	—	$73,166national $77,981	—
Music	21	—	—national $42,892	$17,750
Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science/Research and Allied Professions	21	$68,733	$69,711national $75,975	$15,352
Computer Engineering	18	$70,687	$76,203national $109,015	—
English Language and Literature, General	14	—	$46,768national $48,590	$31,687
Anthropology	14	—	$47,392national $46,676	$26,125
Fine and Studio Arts	14	—	$37,604national $41,367	—
Engineering Technologies/Technicians, General	12	$67,014	$77,103national $80,526	$19,000
Chemistry	11	—	$67,475national $65,120	—
History	10	—	$46,090national $50,680	—
Sociology	9	$37,302	$42,450national $52,657	$21,500
Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations	9	$44,405	$61,960national $61,027	—
International Business	8	—	$65,366national $73,201	—

Associate degrees (1)

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	188	$42,067	$44,605national $44,125	$11,465

Master's degrees (15)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Business Administration, Management and Operations	73	$83,475	$118,940national $103,485	$33,455
Social Work	62	$56,176	$59,219national $65,123	$27,550
Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions	49	$118,007	$123,921national $127,347	$60,000
Special Education and Teaching	48	$56,345	$61,632national $64,397	$28,687
Student Counseling and Personnel Services	41	$58,662	$59,508national $60,111	$43,000
Human Resources Management and Services	33	$75,167	—national $83,558	$17,657
Curriculum and Instruction	27	$50,669	$58,560national $63,399	$36,654
Communication Disorders Sciences and Services	23	$60,199	$61,406national $67,030	$40,015
Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness	21	$50,970	$58,288national $62,033	—
Public Administration	15	$54,812	$58,671national $81,408	—
Accounting and Related Services	15	$63,727	$93,185national $95,833	—
Criminal Justice and Corrections	14	—	$62,768national $66,714	—
Music	13	$46,718	$49,779national $48,285	—
Human Development, Family Studies, and Related Services	11	—	$52,823national $58,524	—
Educational Administration and Supervision	0	$70,954	$83,571national $71,685	—

Doctoral degrees (3)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Clinical, Counseling and Applied Psychology	8	—	$101,668national $99,878	—
Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions	—	$74,467	$80,257national $82,893	$81,863
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing	—	$111,882	$112,564national $138,131	—

A dash means the Department of Education suppressed the figure because too few graduates were measured — not zero. 170 more programmes at this college have every figure suppressed and are not listed.

Contact and accreditation

Address: 1845 N. Fairmount, Wichita, KS 67260-0124
Phone: (316) 978-3456
Institutional accreditor: Higher Learning Commission

Is Wichita State 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.