Is Saint Cloud State University Worth It?

Saint Cloud State gives you a solid financial return if you pick the right major. Median debt sits below the earnings you can expect ten years out, so the average graduate isn't buried. But that average hides a wide gap between programs, and a 46.9% graduation rate means you have real odds of leaving with debt and no degree.

The engineering and nursing programs are where the money is. Electrical engineering graduates out-earn the school median by roughly $14,000, and computer engineering, manufacturing engineering, mechanical engineering, and nursing all clear $63,000. These programs carry higher debt (nursing and computer engineering both push past $24,000), but the salaries justify it. If you're targeting one of these five fields, the payoff here is strong and the debt is manageable against your income.

The catch: the school only publishes salary data for engineering and nursing. Every other major is a blank. If you enroll for education, business, or the humanities, you're betting on the school median of $55,813 without program-level proof to back it. That's the specific risk here , the highest-earning paths are technical, and the rest is unmeasured.

The retention rate of 68% is the bigger warning. One in three students doesn't return after freshman year. Dropping out after borrowing is the worst financial outcome, and those odds aren't small.

The net price tiers work in your favor if your family earns under $48,000, where you pay around $10,000 a year. Above $110,000, you pay roughly double that. This school is a good fit if you're lower-income and committed to engineering or nursing. If you're paying the top-tier price for an undeclared or non-technical major, look harder at whether the return covers it.