R2 ResearchPublic

Tarleton State University

Stephenville, Texas·Public, 4-year or above·Southwest·tarleton.edu
6-yr Graduation
48%
+2.0pp vs R2 Research
Total enrollment
17,433
peer median 10,472
Avg net price
$20,261
+$6.2k vs R2 Research
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AboutAdmissionsOutcomesProgram outcomesAccreditationCostFederal aidLoan defaultsAcademic programsEnrollment trendsAthleticsCampus safetyFacultyPeersIR OfficeDocumentsAlumni

About

Tarleton State University is a public research university in Stephenville, Texas, United States. It is a founding member of the Texas A&M University System and enrolled over 15,000 students in the fall of 2022. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity".

Admissions & acceptance rate

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

IPEDS
Applied
13,705
13,705 candidates competed
Admitted
12,273
89.6% acceptance rate
Enrolled
2,986
24.3% yield

Graduation rate & outcomes

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

IPEDS
Overall completion
48%+2.0pp vs R2 Research
4-year graduation
33%
6-year graduation (bachelor’s)
48%
Full-time retention
70%

Pell equity

11.0pp gap
Pell recipients
43%
Non-Pell
54%

Non-Pell students graduate at a 11.0-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.

FVT/GE

Of 133 Title IV programs, 43 pass the federal Gainful Employment test and 2 fail. 88 have graduate earnings too small to publish, so they carry no pass/fail verdict.

Total programs
133
Passing
43
32.3% of portfolio
Failing (GE)
2
1.5% of portfolio
Fail rate
1.5%
+0.9pp vs 0.6% national

Pass / fail distribution

133programs
  • Passing43 · 32.3%
  • No Data88 · 66.2%
  • Failing2 · 1.5%

Severity spectrum

Critical
0
Severe
2
Recoverable
0
At Risk
0
Watch
4
Safe
39
No data
88

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.

45
Communication and Media Studies
Master's Degree · Communication, Journalism, And Related Programs
-13.8%
$50,666 vs $58,761
Allied Health Diagnostic Intervention and Treatment Professions
Master's Degree · Health Professions And Related Clinical Sciences
-7.7%
$56,139 vs $60,823
Clinical Counseling and Applied Psychology
Master's Degree · Psychology
+10.6%
$53,805 vs $48,653
Agricultural Public Services
Master's Degree · Agriculture, Agriculture Operations, And Related Sciences
+12.9%
$60,588 vs $53,672
Criminal Justice and Corrections
Master's Degree · Security And Protective Services
+21.0%
$64,860 vs $53,607
Teacher Education and Professional Development Specific Subject Areas
Master's Degree · Education
+22.1%
$56,646 vs $46,391
Teacher Education and Professional Development Specific Levels and Methods
Master's Degree · Education
+26.1%
$58,498 vs $46,391
Animal Sciences
Bachelor Degree · Agriculture, Agriculture Operations, And Related Sciences
+29.7%
$43,185 vs $33,298

Debt vs earnings

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

39
Educational Administration and Supervision
Doctoral Degree · Education
73%
$70,182 debt · $96,825 earn
Clinical Counseling and Applied Psychology
Master's Degree · Psychology
69%
$36,864 debt · $53,805 earn
Biology General
Bachelor Degree · Biological And Biomedical Sciences
53%
$25,500 debt · $47,795 earn
Fine and Studio Arts
Bachelor Degree · Visual And Performing Arts
50%
$21,981 debt · $43,665 earn
History
Bachelor Degree · History
50%
$25,125 debt · $50,385 earn
Criminal Justice and Corrections
Master's Degree · Security And Protective Services
49%
$31,458 debt · $64,860 earn
Liberal Arts and Sciences General Studies and Humanities
Bachelor Degree · Liberal Arts And Sciences, General Studies And Humanities
48%
$21,338 debt · $44,106 earn
Animal Sciences
Bachelor Degree · Agriculture, Agriculture Operations, And Related Sciences
48%
$20,827 debt · $43,185 earn

Accreditation status & history

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

DAPIP
AccreditedInstitutional accreditor

Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges

Accredited since 1926Next review Jun 2027

Programmatic accreditations · 4

Action history · 14

  1. Oct 2025Deny Substantive Change: Program
    Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
  2. Oct 2025Grant Substantive Change: Program
    Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
  3. Sep 2025Grant Substantive Change: Program
    Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
  4. Jun 2025Grant Substantive Change: Program
    Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
  5. Feb 2025Grant Substantive Change: Program
    Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

Tuition & cost

What families actually pay, broken down by family income.

College Scorecard

Net price by family income

Aid exceeds costFamily pays
$0–30k$15,477
$30–48k$16,966
$48–75k$20,599
$75–110k$22,714
$110k+$22,981

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

Avg net price
$20,261
+$6,220vs R2 Research median $14,041
Federal loans
45.5%
In-state tuition
$7,878
Out-of-state
$17,958

Federal aid volume & trends

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

Federal Student Aid

In AY 2024–25, 5,821 students received $35.4M in Pell grants, alongside $59.2M in federal Direct Loans.

Pell recipients
5,821
AY 2024–25
Pell disbursed
$35.4M
$35,367,453 total
Direct Loans
$59.2M
9,798 loan awards

Pell recipients · 5-year trend

5k
’20
5k
’21
5k
’22
5k
’23
6k
’24

Loan volume by type · AY 2024–25

Subsidized$13.9M
3,693 loan awards
Unsubsidized · UG$18.7M
4,212 loan awards
Unsubsidized · Grad$17.0M
1,156 loan awards
Parent PLUS$9.1M
652 loan awards
Grad PLUS$520K
85 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.

Cohort Default Rate

Of 3,476 borrowers who entered repayment, 82 (2.3%) defaulted within three years.

Default rate
2.3%
vs 2.3% national
Borrowers in repayment
3,476
Defaulted
82
Measurement window
3 years
Federal CDR standard

Default rate vs national, by cohort

2016
7.7%
2017
7.3%
2018
7.2%
2019
2.3%
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 Tarleton State

Top program areas ranked by completions.

IPEDS
Distinct CIP programs92
UndergraduateOffered
GraduateOffered

Top program families by completions

2,978 total completions
01Business
76425.7%
02Agriculture
40313.5%
03Psychology
35011.8%
04Parks/Recreation
34511.6%
05Health Professions
2689.0%
06Education
2197.4%
07Security/Protective
2197.4%
08Public Admin
1846.2%
09Engineering Tech
1214.1%
10Computer Sciences
1053.5%

Enrollment trends & demographics

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

IPEDS
Fall total
17,433
12-mo unduplicated
17,719
Undergraduate
15,101
Graduate
2,618

Gender split

Men
37%6,548
Women
63%11,171

Race / ethnicity composition

White
63.7%
Hispanic
23.4%
Black
6.2%
Two or more
3.2%
Asian
1.0%
Unknown
0.9%
American Indian / Alaska Native
0.7%
Non-resident
0.7%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander
0.1%

Athletics & Title IX gender equity

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

EADA
Athletes
407
242 M · 165 W
Women athletes
40.5%
Athletic aid
$4.4M
Total student aid
Budget
$27.7M
Total expenses

Men vs women · spending splits

Athletic student aid
$2.4M
$2.0M
Recruiting expense
$306K
$150K
Head-coach salaries
$160K
$89K
Men Women

Sport-by-sport · 10

Track and Field and Cross Country (combined)
100 M · 129 W
$1.2M
Football
131 M · —
$6.2M
Basketball
21 M · 19 W
$3.7M
Baseball
40 M · —
$1.1M
Softball
— · 28 W
$847K
Soccer
— · 24 W
$841K

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

Campus safety & crime statistics

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

Clery Act
Criminal offenses · per 1,000 students
1.35
19 offenses · 14,092 students

3-year trend

1.282 yrs ago1.211 yr ago1.35Latest
Offenses · 3-yr
54
Last three years
VAWA · 3-yr
42
DV, dating, stalking
Hate crimes · 3-yr
0
Res-hall fires · 3-yr
3

Criminal offenses by type

Rape
6
Motor vehicle theft
6
Burglary
3
Aggravated assault
2
Arson
1
Robbery
1

By location

19total
  • On campus19

Includes 11 in residence halls (a subset of on-campus, not added to the total).

VAWA offenses

1
Domestic violence
2
Dating violence
12
Stalking
15 total under the Violence Against Women Act.

Hate crimes by bias

No hate crimes reported.

Arrests vs disciplinary referrals

CategoryArrestsReferrals
Weapons00
Drugs87
Liquor2986

Residence-hall fires

  • Honors Hall1 fire
    OtherDamage $100-$999
  • Legacy Hall1 fire
    Student lit personal property on fire in personal residence. No damage to person(s) or facility.Damage $0-$99

Data quality: 10 reports were later determined unfounded across the reporting period and are excluded from the totals above.

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

Student-faculty ratio

Student-to-faculty ratio and instructional staff counts.

IPEDS
Student-to-faculty
20.0:1
Instructional staff (full-time equivalent)
508

Tarleton State vs Peer comparison

The peer institutions Tarleton State selected for federal comparison reporting.

IPEDS
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
SubjectTarleton State University
48%—17,433$20,261R2 Research
Lamar University
37%86.4%17,772$11,429Doctoral/Professional
Prairie View A & M University
43%79.3%9,922$14,041R2 Research
Stephen F Austin State University
53%94.0%10,472$15,152Masters Colleges & Universities: Larger Programs
Texas A & M International University
46%44.4%8,991$3,061Masters Colleges & Universities: Larger Programs
Texas A & M University-Corpus Christi
40%88.6%11,266$15,137R2 Research
Texas A&M University-Texarkana
30%63.5%2,412$12,637Masters Colleges & Universities: Medium Programs
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
51%94.2%33,881$6,500R2 Research
West Texas A & M University
48%98.7%9,045$20,841Masters Colleges & Universities: Larger Programs
Peer group median46%87.5%10,472$14,041

Tarleton State Institutional Research office

The IR team responsible for the institution's federal reporting.

Team
1 member
  • Morgan Carter
    Director of Institutional Analytics, Effectiveness, and Accreditation

Reports & documents (1)

Dashboards, factbooks, data dictionaries, and other reference material published by the IR office.

Notable alumni of Tarleton State (27)

A curated list of alumni recognized for notable achievements across industries.

  • Chris Adams
    Military
  • Alexandra Allred
  • Susan Ballabina
  • Ben Barnes
    Politics
  • DeWayne Burns
    Politics
  • Charles Congden Carpenter
  • Richie Champion
  • George Cowden
  • J. W. Fritz
  • Steve Fryar
  • Bob Glasgow
  • Robert Manning Gray
Showing 1–12 of 27
1 / 3

Frequently asked questions about Tarleton State University

Quick answers to the questions most often asked about Tarleton State.

What is the graduation rate at Tarleton State University?

Tarleton State University reports a 6-year graduation rate of 48% per the latest IPEDS.

How many students attend Tarleton State University?

Tarleton State University reports a total enrollment of 17,433 students per the latest IPEDS.

What is the average net price at Tarleton State University?

The average net price at Tarleton State University is $20,261 per the latest College Scorecard. Net price is the published cost of attendance minus grant aid.

What is the yield rate at Tarleton State University?

Tarleton State University's yield rate is 24.3%, the share of admitted students who enrolled, per the latest IPEDS.

Where is Tarleton State University located?

Tarleton State University is located in Stephenville, Texas 76401-0000.

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