Capella University
Graduation rate & outcomes
Completion, retention, and the equity gap between Pell and non-Pell students.
Pell equity
Non-Pell students graduate at a 33.0-point higher rate than Pell recipients.
Program outcomes
Federal Program Performance Data: how each program's graduate earnings and debt measure up under Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment.
Of 142 Title IV programs, 78 pass the federal Gainful Employment test and 5 fail. 59 have graduate earnings too small to publish, so they carry no pass/fail verdict.
Pass / fail distribution
- Passing78 · 54.9%
- No Data59 · 41.5%
- Failing5 · 3.5%
Severity spectrum
Tiers band programs by how far graduate earnings sit above or below the benchmark, from Critical (below −15%) through Safe (above +25%). No data means earnings were privacy-suppressed.
Earnings premium gap
Graduate earnings versus the federal benchmark, worst gaps first.
Near the line (±5%)
Programs within five points of the pass line, one cohort year from flipping.
Debt vs earnings
Median completer debt against median graduate earnings, highest burden first.
Accreditation status & history
Who accredits the institution, current standing, and any past actions.
Higher Learning Commission
Programmatic accreditations · 4
Action history · 4
- Sep 2025Renewal of AccreditationCommission on Collegiate Nursing Education · Nursing (CNURED) - Nursing education programs at the baccalaureate degree levels
- Sep 2025Renewal of AccreditationCommission on Collegiate Nursing Education · Nursing (CNURED) - Nursing education programs at the graduate degree levels
- Sep 2025Renewal of AccreditationCommission on Collegiate Nursing Education · Nursing (CNDNP) - Nursing education programs at the doctorate degree levels
- Jan 2023Renewal of AccreditationHigher Learning Commission
Tuition & cost
What families actually pay, broken down by family income.
Net price by family income
Negative values mean aid exceeds the published cost of attendance for that income band.
Federal aid volume & trends
Pell grants and federal Direct Loan volume disbursed to students, and how they've trended.
In AY 2024–25, 15,560 students received $44.5M in Pell grants, alongside $458.5M in federal Direct Loans.
Pell recipients · 5-year trend
Loan volume by type · AY 2024–25
Loan awards count each loan type a student holds, not unique borrowers; one student may carry several (e.g. subsidized and unsubsidized), so the per-type figures are the reliable detail.
Student loan default rate
The share of student borrowers who default on federal loans within three years, against the national benchmark.
Of 18,233 borrowers who entered repayment, 214 (1.1%) defaulted within three years — below the 2.3% national rate.
Default rate vs national, by cohort
* Cohorts 2020 and later read near 0% because the federal COVID-19 payment pause (CARES Act) suspended defaults nationwide. These years reflect a national policy, not institutional performance; the 2019 cohort is the last measured under normal repayment.
Academic programs at Capella
Top program areas ranked by completions.
Top program families by completions
Enrollment trends & demographics
Fall headcount, 12-month unduplicated enrollment, and student body composition.
Gender split
Race / ethnicity composition
Campus safety & crime statistics
Reported on-campus crimes over the last three years, including violence and hate crimes.
3-year trend
Criminal offenses by type
By location
VAWA offenses
Hate crimes by bias
No hate crimes reported.
Arrests vs disciplinary referrals
Residence-hall fires
Student-faculty ratio
Student-to-faculty ratio and instructional staff counts.
Capella vs Peer comparison
The peer institutions Capella selected for federal comparison reporting.
A larger shape on any axis means this institution outperforms its peers on that dimension. For acceptance rate and net price, lower raw values are inverted so "more selective" and "more affordable" appear larger.
| Carnegie | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SubjectCapella University | 20% | — | 47,761 | $18,305 | Doctoral/Professional |
Walden University | 0% | — | 49,441 | — | Doctoral/Professional |
National American University-Rapid City | 0% | — | 903 | $22,086 | Doctoral/Professional |
California Intercontinental University | 10% | — | 623 | — | Doctoral/Professional |
Colorado Technical University-Colorado Springs | 14% | — | 31,830 | $14,954 | Doctoral/Professional |
Ashford University | 10% | — | 28,004 | $25,321 | Doctoral/Professional |
| Peer group median | 10% | — | 29,917 | $20,196 |
Frequently asked questions about Capella University
Quick answers to the questions most often asked about Capella.
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