Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI
Michigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, a small city, with 40,922 undergraduates. Communication is its signature field: 10% of its bachelor's degrees, about twice its share across the colleges we cover. 81% of students finish within six years, and former students who are working earn a median of $67,253 ten years after starting.
Michigan State University admitted 52,411 of 62,965 applicants for the fall 2025 entering class (83.2%).
- Acceptance rate
- 83.2%
- Fall 2025 class
- In-state tuition
- $16,458
- $43,842 out of state
- Paid after aid
- $19,680
- Average, students with aid
- SAT, middle 50%
- 1100–1310
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 2025 entering class, a read on the school, not a prediction about any one applicant.
What Michigan State University is known for
Measured by the 9,372 bachelor's degrees it awarded in 2022–23, and what its graduates went on to earn.
Communication
9.7%
of its bachelor's degrees: about twice the 4.5% share across the colleges we cover.
- Biology5165.5% of degrees$64,018+12% vs $57,214 nationally
- Psychology4965.3% of degrees$56,040+11% vs $50,706 nationally
- Business Administration, Management and Operations4484.8% of degrees$91,187+34% vs $68,257 nationally
- Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication4444.7% of degrees$69,300+9% vs $63,560 nationally
- Computer and Information Sciences3724.0% of degrees$116,905+27% vs $92,374 nationally
- Finance and Financial Management Services3503.7% of degrees$102,017+22% vs $83,343 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
Small city
East Lansing, MI
Undergraduates
40,922
Fall 2024
Type
Public
Doctoral university, very high research activity
Living on campus
A quarter to half
of undergraduates live on campus
Students per faculty member
17 to 1
Fall 2024
International students
5%
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 Michigan State University
Two things Michigan 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.
2,254 admitted from a waitlist of 4,241.
A waitlist offer here is not a near-miss anyone can plan around.
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
Families paid $19,680 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
83.2%
52,411 admitted of 62,965 applicants
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
SAT, middle 50%
1100–1310
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
ACT, middle 50%
25–31
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
Average GPA of admitted students
3.74
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
Enrolled students who sent an SAT
51.5%
Counted per test: a student may send both.
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
Enrolled students who sent an ACT
6.8%
Counted per test: a student may send both.
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
Where do you actually stand at Michigan 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 Michigan State University costs
The published price first, then what students who received aid actually paid, by family income.
In-state tuition and fees for 2024–25 were $16,458 ($43,842 out of state), and the full in-state cost of attendance, with housing, food and books, was $32,198. After grants and scholarships, students who received financial aid paid $19,680 a year on average.
In-state tuition and fees
$16,458
2024–25 school year
Out-of-state tuition and fees
$43,842
2024–25 school year
Full cost, in state
$32,198
Tuition, fees, housing, food and books
Paid after aid
$19,680
Average, students who received aid
What students paid, by family income
Each bar is that figure as a share of the $32,198 full cost.
- Under $30k$7,068Typical public university: $10,013
- $30k–$48k$10,830Typical public university: $10,847
- $48k–$75k$16,521Typical public university: $13,703
- $75k–$110k$22,703Typical public university: $17,979
- Over $110k$28,546Typical 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
81%
Our colleges' median: 63%
Return for a second year
90%
Our colleges' median: 79%
Earnings after 10 years
$67,253
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 Michigan State University says it weighs
The school's own words, from the form it fills in every year. Ranked as it ranks them.
- GPAvery important
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
- Essayimportant
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
- Course rigorimportant
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
- Test scoresconsidered
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
Not considered
- Recommendations
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
- Class rank
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
- Legacy
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
The waitlist, as the school reported it
Published counts, including the ones schools rarely lead with.
- Offered a waitlist place
- 4,241
- Admitted from the waitlist
- 2,254
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
Published deadlines
Each date is read from the college's own materials and re-checked on a schedule.
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.
- Albion College83.2%
- Wayne State University83.6%
- Northwood University83.9%
- Western Michigan University85.3%
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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