Masters Colleges & Universities: Small ProgramsPrivate nonprofit

Rockford University

Rockford, Illinois·Private not-for-profit, 4-year or above·Great Lakes·rockford.edu
6-yr Graduation
47%
-9.5pp vs Masters Colleges & Universities: Small Programs
Total enrollment
1,241
peer median 1,166
Avg net price
$23,066
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Admissions & acceptance rate

First-time freshman admissions: how selective the college is, and how many admitted students choose to enroll.

Applied
1,721
1,721 candidates competed
Admitted
1,599
92.9% acceptance rate
Enrolled
214
13.4% yield

Graduation rate & outcomes

Completion, retention, and the equity gap between Pell and non-Pell students.

Overall completion
47%-9.5pp vs Masters Colleges & Universities: Small Programs
4-year graduation
34%
6-year graduation (bachelor’s)
47%
Full-time retention
65%

Pell equity

30.0pp gap
Pell recipients
56%
Non-Pell
26%

Pell recipients graduate at a higher rate than non-Pell students here — unusual and worth investigating.

Program outcomes

Federal Program Performance Data: how each program's graduate earnings and debt measure up under Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment.

Of 62 Title IV programs, 5 pass the federal Gainful Employment test and 0 fail. 57 have graduate earnings too small to publish, so they carry no pass/fail verdict.

Total programs
62
Passing
5
8.1% of portfolio
Failing (GE)
0
0.0% of portfolio
Fail rate
0.0%
-0.6pp vs 0.6% national

Pass / fail distribution

62programs
  • Passing5 · 8.1%
  • No Data57 · 91.9%
  • Failing0 · 0.0%

Severity spectrum

Critical
0
Severe
0
Recoverable
0
At Risk
0
Watch
0
Safe
5
No data
57

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.

5
Teacher Education and Professional Development Specific Subject Areas
Bachelor Degree · Education
+34.0%
$46,642 vs $34,808
Teacher Education and Professional Development Specific Levels and Methods
Bachelor Degree · Education
+34.4%
$46,780 vs $34,808
Business Administration Management and Operations
Master's Degree · Business, Management, Marketing, And Related Support Services
+43.5%
$90,776 vs $63,250
Business Administration Management and Operations
Bachelor Degree · Business, Management, Marketing, And Related Support Services
+81.9%
$63,331 vs $34,808
Registered Nursing Nursing Administration Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing
Bachelor Degree · Health Professions And Related Clinical Sciences
+102.6%
$70,537 vs $34,808

Debt vs earnings

Median completer debt against median graduate earnings, highest burden first.

4
Teacher Education and Professional Development Specific Subject Areas
Bachelor Degree · Education
65%
$30,375 debt · $46,642 earn
Teacher Education and Professional Development Specific Levels and Methods
Bachelor Degree · Education
57%
$26,600 debt · $46,780 earn
Registered Nursing Nursing Administration Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing
Bachelor Degree · Health Professions And Related Clinical Sciences
38%
$26,910 debt · $70,537 earn
Business Administration Management and Operations
Bachelor Degree · Business, Management, Marketing, And Related Support Services
31%
$19,375 debt · $63,331 earn

Accreditation status & history

Who accredits the institution, current standing, and any past actions.

AccreditedInstitutional accreditor

Higher Learning Commission

Accredited since 1913Next review Aug 2026

Programmatic accreditations · 1

Action history · 5

  1. Aug 2025Renewal of Accreditation
    Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing, Inc. — May 6, 2013 Formerly: National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission · Nursing (NUR) - Baccalaureate program
  2. Sep 2023Probation or Equivalent or a More Severe Status: Warning
    Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing, Inc. — May 6, 2013 Formerly: National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission · Nursing (NUR) - Baccalaureate program
  3. May 2022Grant Substantive Change: Other
    Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing, Inc. — May 6, 2013 Formerly: National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission · Nursing (NUR) - Baccalaureate program
  4. Mar 2020Renewal of Accreditation
    Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing, Inc. — May 6, 2013 Formerly: National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission · Nursing (NUR) - Baccalaureate program
  5. Aug 2016Renewal of Accreditation
    Higher Learning Commission

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

Tuition & cost

What families actually pay, broken down by family income.

Net price by family income

Aid exceeds costFamily pays
$0–30k$21,950
$30–48k$20,840
$48–75k$21,448
$75–110k$24,280
$110k+$26,869

Negative values mean aid exceeds the published cost of attendance for that income band.

Avg net price (private)
$23,066
vs Masters Colleges & Universities: Small Programs median $23,050
Federal loans
59.8%
In-state tuition
$37,300
Out-of-state
$37,300

Federal aid volume & trends

Pell grants and federal Direct Loan volume disbursed to students, and how they've trended.

In AY 2024–25, 598 students received $3.5M in Pell grants, alongside $7.8M in federal Direct Loans.

Pell recipients
598
AY 2024–25
Pell disbursed
$3.5M
$3,451,359 total
Direct Loans
$7.8M
1,352 loan awards

Pell recipients · 5-year trend

1k
20
0k
21
0k
22
1k
23
1k
24

Loan volume by type · AY 2024–25

Subsidized$2.2M
548 loan awards
Unsubsidized · UG$2.0M
580 loan awards
Unsubsidized · Grad$872K
59 loan awards
Parent PLUS$2.6M
162 loan awards
Grad PLUS$40K
3 loan awards

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.

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

Student loan default rate

The share of student borrowers who default on federal loans within three years, against the national benchmark.

Of 385 borrowers who entered repayment, 7 (1.8%) defaulted within three years below the 2.3% national rate.

Default rate
1.8%
-0.5pp vs 2.3% national
Borrowers in repayment
385
Defaulted
7
Measurement window
3 years
Federal CDR standard

Default rate vs national, by cohort

2016
6.5%
2017
6.9%
2018
7.9%
2019
1.8%
2020*
0.0%
This institutionNational rate

* 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.

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

Academic programs at Rockford

Top program areas ranked by completions.

Distinct CIP programs51
UndergraduateOffered
GraduateOffered

Top program families by completions

299 total completions
01Business
8729.1%
02Education
8528.4%
03Health Professions
289.4%
04Parks/Recreation
268.7%
05Social Sciences
217.0%
06Biological Sciences
175.7%
07Visual/Performing Arts
124.0%
08Family/Consumer Sci
82.7%
09Psychology
82.7%
10Computer Sciences
72.3%

Enrollment trends & demographics

Fall headcount, 12-month unduplicated enrollment, and student body composition.

Fall total
1,241
12-mo unduplicated
1,510
Undergraduate
1,133
Graduate
377

Gender split

Men
42%636
Women
58%874

Race / ethnicity composition

White
40.7%
Hispanic
19.0%
Black
15.1%
Unknown
11.4%
Non-resident
8.2%
Two or more
2.9%
Asian
2.2%
American Indian / Alaska Native
0.5%

Athletics & Title IX gender equity

How athletic participation, aid, and spending are split between men and women.

Athletes
302
221 M · 81 W
Women athletes
26.8%
Athletic aid
$0
Total student aid
Budget
$2.3M
Total expenses

Men vs women · spending splits

Athletic student aid
$0
$0
Recruiting expense
$18K
$7K
Head-coach salaries
$46K
$34K
Men Women

Sport-by-sport · 8

Football
97 M ·
$391K
Basketball
34 M · 20 W
$326K
Soccer
30 M · 17 W
$239K
Baseball
40 M ·
$326K
Volleyball
14 M · 17 W
$172K
Softball
· 22 W
$127K

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

Campus safety & crime statistics

Reported on-campus crimes over the last three years, including violence and hate crimes.

Criminal offenses · per 1,000 students
4.23
5 offenses · 1,181 students

3-year trend

3.932 yrs ago2.441 yr ago4.23Latest
Offenses · 3-yr
13
Last three years
VAWA · 3-yr
7
DV, dating, stalking
Hate crimes · 3-yr
0
Res-hall fires · 3-yr
0

Criminal offenses by type

Burglary
2
Aggravated assault
2
Fondling
1

By location

5total
  • On campus3
  • Non-campus1
  • Public property1

VAWA offenses

0
Domestic violence
0
Dating violence
1
Stalking
1 total under the Violence Against Women Act.

Hate crimes by bias

No hate crimes reported.

Arrests vs disciplinary referrals

CategoryArrestsReferrals
Weapons00
Drugs00
Liquor03

Residence-hall fires

No residence-hall fires reported.

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

Student-faculty ratio

Student-to-faculty ratio and instructional staff counts.

Student-to-faculty
10.0:1
Instructional staff (full-time equivalent)
68

Rockford vs Peer comparison

The peer institutions Rockford selected for federal comparison reporting.

GraduationRetentionSelectivityEnrollmentAffordabilityYield
This institutionPeer median

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
SubjectRockford University
47%1,241$23,066Masters Colleges & Universities: Small Programs
Greenville University
40%97.5%1,104$21,270Masters Colleges & Universities: Small Programs
Judson University
60%47.6%960$25,027Masters Colleges & Universities: Small Programs
North Central College
64%77.3%3,003$23,033Masters Colleges & Universities: Small Programs
Maranatha Baptist University
64%71.9%960$24,659Masters Colleges & Universities: Small Programs
Anderson University
53%79.3%1,228$22,144Masters Colleges & Universities: Small Programs
Peer group median56%77.3%1,166$23,050

Frequently asked questions about Rockford University

Quick answers to the questions most often asked about Rockford.

What is the graduation rate at Rockford University?

Rockford University reports a 6-year graduation rate of 47% per the latest IPEDS.

How many students attend Rockford University?

Rockford University reports a total enrollment of 1,241 students per the latest IPEDS.

What is the average net price at Rockford University?

The average net price at Rockford University is $23,066 per the latest College Scorecard. Net price is the published cost of attendance minus grant aid.

What is the yield rate at Rockford University?

Rockford University's yield rate is 13.4%, the share of admitted students who enrolled, per the latest IPEDS.

Where is Rockford University located?

Rockford University is located in Rockford, Illinois 61108-2311.

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