Murray State University
Admissions & acceptance rate
First-time freshman admissions: how selective the college is, and how many admitted students choose to enroll.
Graduation rate & outcomes
Completion, retention, and the equity gap between Pell and non-Pell students.
Pell equity
Non-Pell students graduate at a 20.2-point higher rate than Pell recipients.
Source: IPEDS Graduation Rates (GR) — Pell/SSL cohort, 2024 cohort.
Program outcomes
Federal Program Performance Data: how each program's graduate earnings and debt measure up under Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment.
Of 128 Title IV programs, 44 pass the federal Gainful Employment test and 0 fail. 84 have graduate earnings too small to publish, so they carry no pass/fail verdict.
Pass / fail distribution
- Passing44 · 34.4%
- No Data84 · 65.6%
- Failing0 · 0.0%
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.
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.
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
Programmatic accreditations · 12
Action history · 19
- May 2025Grant Substantive Change: ProgramSouthern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
- Mar 2025Grant Substantive Change: ProgramSouthern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
- Dec 2024Renewal of AccreditationSouthern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
- Jul 2024Renewal of AccreditationAmerican Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology · Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) - Graduate degree programs
- Jul 2022Renewal of AccreditationAcademy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics · Dietetics (DIETI) - Dietetic Internship
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, 3,097 students received $17.3M in Pell grants, alongside $34.4M 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 1,976 borrowers who entered repayment, 44 (2.2%) 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 Murray State
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
Athletics & Title IX gender equity
How athletic participation, aid, and spending are split between men and women.
Men vs women · spending splits
Sport-by-sport · 10
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
- On campus19
- Non-campus3
- Public property3
Includes 10 in residence halls (a subset of on-campus, not added to the total).
VAWA offenses
Hate crimes by bias
No hate crimes reported.
Arrests vs disciplinary referrals
Residence-hall fires
- Hart Hall2 firesCookingDamage $0-$99
- Hart Hall2 firesCookingDamage $0-$99
Data quality: 5 reports were later determined unfounded across the reporting period and are excluded from the totals above.
Student-faculty ratio
Student-to-faculty ratio and instructional staff counts.
Murray State vs Peer comparison
The peer institutions Murray State 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 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SubjectMurray State University | 61% | — | 10,020 | $9,096 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Larger Programs |
| 52% | 77.2% | 8,791 | $9,793 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Larger Programs | |
| 39% | 96.4% | 10,439 | $9,735 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Larger Programs | |
| 48% | 75.3% | 11,348 | $13,966 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Larger Programs | |
| 55% | 77.7% | 9,955 | $14,279 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Larger Programs | |
| 55% | 87.3% | 10,204 | $12,170 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Larger Programs | |
| Peer group median | 54% | 77.7% | 10,112 | $10,982 |
Institutions like Murray State
Explore the federal data for institutions in Murray State's comparison group.
- Masters Colleges & Universities: Larger ProgramsKentucky
Morehead State University
Grad rate52%Admit rate77.2%Enrollment8,791Net price$9,793View data - Masters Colleges & Universities: Larger ProgramsTennessee
Austin Peay State University
Grad rate39%Admit rate96.4%Enrollment10,439Net price$9,735View data - Masters Colleges & Universities: Larger ProgramsSouth Carolina
Coastal Carolina University
Grad rate48%Admit rate75.3%Enrollment11,348Net price$13,966View data - Masters Colleges & Universities: Larger ProgramsAlabama
Jacksonville State University
Grad rate55%Admit rate77.7%Enrollment9,955Net price$14,279View data - Masters Colleges & Universities: Larger ProgramsAlabama
University of North Alabama
Grad rate55%Admit rate87.3%Enrollment10,204Net price$12,170View data
Murray State Institutional Research office
The IR team responsible for the institution's federal reporting.
- Dedrick M. BrooksDirector of Institutional Research
Common Data Set
Murray State's own annual Common Data Set: the most detailed self-reported reference for selectivity, cost, outcomes, and the student body.
Affordability & Value
Where grant aid comes from
H117% of need-based grant dollars come from the institution itself.
Graduate debt
H4/H551% of graduates borrowed; those who did owed $27,791 on average.
Outcomes & Equity
Graduation & retention
B6-year graduation rate 56%; first-year retention 75%.
Equity: Pell graduation gap
B4Pell-grant recipients graduate 15 pts below the overall rate (41% vs 56%).
Academic Experience
Class-size distribution
I364% of classes have under 20 students; 3% have 50+.
Faculty profile
IKey faculty indicators.
Degrees by discipline
JSTEM-dominant: ~11% of bachelor's degrees are in computing, engineering, math & sciences.
Student Body & Diversity
Undergraduate race/ethnicity
B2Undergraduate enrollment by race/ethnicity.
International students
B25% of undergraduates are international (nonresident).
Undergrad vs graduate
B17,735 undergraduates and 1,692 graduate students.
Transfer Path
Transfer admissions
D11,266 transfer applicants → 961 admitted (75.9%) → 690 enrolled
Source publications
Frequently asked questions about Murray State University
Quick answers to the questions most often asked about Murray State.
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About the data on this page
Every figure comes from an official federal or public source. Here is each one and the release it is currently on.
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