Lake Superior State University
Sault Ste Marie, MI
Lake Superior State University is a public university in Sault Ste Marie, Michigan, a town more than 35 miles from a city, with 1,325 undergraduates. Natural resources and criminal justice are its signature fields: together they make up 21% of its bachelor's degrees, about six times their share across the colleges we cover. 51% of students finish within six years, and former students who are working earn a median of $49,045 ten years after starting.
Lake Superior State University admitted 1,682 of 2,473 applicants for the fall 2023 entering class (68%).
- Acceptance rate
- 68%
- Fall 2023 class
- Tuition and fees
- $14,890
- 2024–25 school year
- Paid after aid
- $12,822
- Average, students with aid
Every figure on this page is published by the college or a federal survey, compiled by GoodGoblin, and carries the source it came from. They describe the fall 2023 entering class, a read on the school, not a prediction about any one applicant.
What Lake Superior State University is known for
Measured by the 302 bachelor's degrees it awarded in 2022–23, and what its graduates went on to earn.
Natural resources
10.3%
of its bachelor's degrees: about nine times the 1.2% share across the colleges we cover.
Criminal justice
10.3%
of its bachelor's degrees: about five times the 2.2% share across the colleges we cover.
- Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing3812.6% of degrees$70,959−20% vs $88,910 nationally
- Fishing and Fisheries Sciences and Management258.3% of degrees$44,090−7% vs $47,243 nationally
- Criminal Justice and Corrections227.3% of degrees$58,286+5% vs $55,378 nationally
- Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness196.3% of degreesToo few graduates to publish
- Psychology175.6% of degreesToo few graduates to publish
- Business Administration, Management and Operations155.0% of degrees$53,396−22% vs $68,257 nationally
Source: the College Scorecard (U.S. Department of Education), field-of-study data. Degrees are bachelor's degrees awarded in 2022–23. Earnings are the median for 2017–18 and 2018–19 graduates, in 2024 dollars, working and not enrolled, four years after graduating. Shares across the colleges we cover count every bachelor's degree at the colleges with a page here.
The place
Where it is, how big it is, and how students live.
Setting
Remote town
Sault Ste Marie, MI
Undergraduates
1,325
Fall 2024
Type
Public
Baccalaureate college, diverse fields
Living on campus
Half or more
of undergraduates live on campus
Students per faculty member
13 to 1
Fall 2024
International students
8%
of undergraduates, fall 2024
Source: the College Scorecard (U.S. Department of Education), including the Carnegie Classification and the federal locale code it publishes.
What stands out at Lake Superior State University
Two things Lake Superior State University published, ranked by how much each could change what you actually do, not by how impressive it looks. Every one describes a class that has already enrolled.
Lake Superior State University reports that test scores are not considered at all.
That is the school’s own answer on the form it fills in every year. A score you send is not read as part of the decision here.
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
Families paid $12,822 on average after aid.
Averaged across students who received federal aid: the price after grants and scholarships, not the sticker price.
Source: the College Scorecard
Every figure, in full
The same measured fields on every one of these pages. Nothing is filled in where the school published nothing.
Acceptance rate
68%
1,682 admitted of 2,473 applicants
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
Where do you actually stand at Lake Superior State University?
The figures on this page describe a class that already enrolled. GoodGoblin reads them against your own transcript, scores, activities and budget, then builds the balanced list, the essay plan and the deadline calendar around what it finds.
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What Lake Superior State University costs
The published price first, then what students who received aid actually paid, by family income.
Tuition and fees for 2024–25 were $14,890, and the full in-state cost of attendance, with housing, food and books, was $27,154. After grants and scholarships, students who received financial aid paid $12,822 a year on average.
Tuition and fees
$14,890
2024–25 school year
Full cost, in state
$27,154
Tuition, fees, housing, food and books
Paid after aid
$12,822
Average, students who received aid
What students paid, by family income
Each bar is that figure as a share of the $27,154 full cost.
- Under $30k$3,516Typical public university: $10,013
- $30k–$48k$9,226Typical public university: $10,847
- $48k–$75k$10,422Typical public university: $13,703
- $75k–$110k$14,541Typical public university: $17,979
- Over $110k$20,321Typical public university: $22,475
Source: the federal College Scorecard. Tuition and cost of attendance are for the 2024–25 school year; colleges usually raise them each year. What students paid is the average net price for first-year students who received federal financial aid. Typical public university: the median across the 338 public universities on GoodGoblin, for in-state students, compiled by GoodGoblin from the same federal data.
Where it leads
Who finishes, who stays, and what they earn and owe afterwards.
Finish within six years
51%
Our colleges' median: 63%
Return for a second year
79%
Our colleges' median: 79%
Earnings after 10 years
$49,045
Our colleges' median: $57,440
Median debt at graduation
$23,250
Our colleges' median: $23,725
Source: the College Scorecard (U.S. Department of Education). Six-year completion describes students who started in fall 2018; second-year return describes students who started in fall 2023; earnings describe students who started in 2009–10 and 2010–11, measured in 2020 and 2021, in 2022 dollars; debt describes federal loans of students who graduated in fiscal years 2020 and 2021. Medians are across the 1,034 colleges with a page here.
What Lake Superior State University says it weighs
The school's own words, from the form it fills in every year. Ranked as it ranks them.
- GPArequired
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
- Class rankrequired
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
- Course rigorconsidered
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
Not considered
- Essay
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
- Test scores
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
- Recommendations
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
- Legacy
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
Published deadlines
Each date is read from the college's own materials and re-checked on a schedule.
- Rolling AdmissionJuly 27, 2027
More colleges on the record
Each of these pages carries the same measured figures and sources.
Other colleges in Michigan
Closest acceptance rates in the same state.
- University of Michigan-Flint68.8%
- Siena Heights University66.6%
- Northern Michigan University70%
- Oakland University70.2%
Colleges with a similar acceptance rate
Closest acceptance rates anywhere in the country.
The GoodGoblin College Data Report: five findings counted across 1,034 colleges ›
Build the list this school belongs on.
The figures on this page describe a class that already enrolled. GoodGoblin reads them against your own transcript, scores, activities and budget, then builds the balanced list, the essay plan and the deadline calendar around what it finds.
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