Sterling College
Sterling, KS
Sterling College is a private college in Sterling, Kansas, a remote rural area, with 538 undergraduates. Kinesiology and education are its signature fields: together they make up 27% of its bachelor's degrees, about four times their share across the colleges we cover. 41% of students finish within six years, and former students who are working earn a median of $45,846 ten years after starting.
Sterling College admitted 438 of 826 applicants for the fall 2023 entering class (53%).
- Acceptance rate
- 53%
- Fall 2023 class
- Tuition and fees
- $33,700
- 2024–25 school year
- Paid after aid
- $22,371
- 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 Sterling College is known for
Measured by the 98 bachelor's degrees it awarded in 2022–23, and what its graduates went on to earn.
Kinesiology
16.3%
of its bachelor's degrees: about six times the 2.6% share across the colleges we cover.
Education
10.2%
of its bachelor's degrees: two and a half times the 3.9% share across the colleges we cover.
- Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness1616.3% of degrees$38,771−29% vs $54,562 nationally
- Criminal Justice and Corrections88.2% of degreesToo few graduates to publish
- Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods88.2% of degreesToo few graduates to publish
- Business, Management, Marketing, and Related Support Services (other)88.2% of degreesToo few graduates to publish
- Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods77.1% of degreesToo few graduates to publish
- Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions55.1% of degreesToo few graduates to publish
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 rural
Sterling, KS
Undergraduates
538
Fall 2024
Type
Private, nonprofit
Baccalaureate college, diverse fields
Living on campus
Half or more
of undergraduates live on campus
Students per faculty member
8 to 1
Fall 2024
International students
11%
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 Sterling College
Three things Sterling College 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.
The admit rate rose from 41% to 53% between fall 2018 and fall 2023.
Both ends are measured rates for classes that have already enrolled: a rate that moved, not a forecast. The fall 2023 figure is the one at the top of this page.
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2018 to fall 2023
1% of the enrolled class sent an SAT.
Most of the enrolled class sent no SAT, so any score range would describe that share of it, not the class. Another 3% sent an ACT. Sterling College files test scores under “considered”.
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
Families paid $22,371 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
53%
438 admitted of 826 applicants
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
Enrolled students who sent an SAT
1%
Counted per test: a student may send both.
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
Enrolled students who sent an ACT
3%
Counted per test: a student may send both.
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
Where do you actually stand at Sterling College?
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 Sterling College costs
The published price first, then what students who received aid actually paid, by family income.
Tuition and fees for 2024–25 were $33,700, and the full cost of attendance, with housing, food and books, was $47,185. After grants and scholarships, students who received financial aid paid $22,371 a year on average.
Tuition and fees
$33,700
2024–25 school year
Full cost of attendance
$47,185
Tuition, fees, housing, food and books
Paid after aid
$22,371
Average, students who received aid
What students paid, by family income
Each bar is that figure as a share of the $47,185 full cost.
- Under $30k$19,068Typical public university: $10,013
- $30k–$48k$19,236Typical public university: $10,847
- $48k–$75k$21,975Typical public university: $13,703
- $75k–$110k$23,525Typical public university: $17,979
- Over $110k$26,602Typical 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
41%
Our colleges' median: 63%
Return for a second year
50%
Our colleges' median: 79%
Earnings after 10 years
$45,846
Our colleges' median: $57,440
Median debt at graduation
$24,625
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.
How the rate has moved
Two measured admit rates from the federal survey, the years apart it reports them. A rate that moved, not a forecast.
Between fall 2018 and fall 2023 the admit rate rose from 41% to 53%.
What Sterling College says it weighs
The school's own words, from the form it fills in every year. Ranked as it ranks them.
- Course rigorrequired
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
- GPArequired
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
- Essayconsidered
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
- Test scoresconsidered
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
Not considered
- Recommendations
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
- Class rank
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.
- Early ActionNovember 15, 2026
Verified August 19, 2026
- Early DecisionNovember 15, 2026
Verified August 19, 2026
- Early Action 2December 15, 2026
Verified August 19, 2026
- Regular DecisionApril 1, 2027
Verified August 19, 2026
- Rolling AdmissionJuly 26, 2027
More colleges on the record
Each of these pages carries the same measured figures and sources.
Other colleges in Kansas
Closest acceptance rates in the same state.
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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