Is Missouri State University-Springfield Worth It?

Missouri State University-Springfield gives you a moderate financial return with manageable risk. The median debt sits below what a graduate earns in half a year, and the net price stays under $20,000 even at the highest income tier. This is a middle-of-the-road bet, not a home run and not a trap.

Your major decides everything here. Computer science and construction management both clear $61,000, and both do it while keeping debt near the school median around $22,000. That combination pays off fast. Management information systems and nursing land in the mid-$50,000s but carry higher debt, closer to $26,000, so your margin shrinks. Nursing still works because Springfield's hospital sector hires locally and steadily. If you graduate into the school-wide median instead of one of these programs, your earnings drop to under $50,000, which changes the math on borrowing.

The main risk is completion. With a 57% graduation rate, roughly four in ten students who start do not finish on time, and debt without a degree is the worst outcome this school can hand you. The 79% retention rate means most first-year students come back, so the drop-off happens later. Springfield's cost of living is low, which stretches these salaries further than the same numbers would in a coastal city.

If your family earns under $48,000, you pay around $12,000 to $13,000 a year here, and a CS or construction management degree turns that into a clear win. If you earn over $110,000, you pay closer to $20,000, and the return is thinner unless you target the top-paying majors. Pick a lower-earning field and borrow the full amount, and you should compare this against a cheaper in-state option before committing.