Montana State University

Basic Information

Type Public
Geographical Reach National
Population 120,000

Weather

Comfortable Days 105 (50%) very dry
Sunshine Hours 2,698 (64%)
Days Without Precipitation 265 (79%)

Demographics

Total Undergraduates 13,312
Men / Women 53% / 47%
From State 38%
From Region 6%
Athletes 313 (2.4%)

Racial/Ethnic

White 84%
Hispanic 6%
Mixed 6%
Native American 1%
Asian 1%
Black 1%
International 1%

Schools & Majors

⇅ Ranked Trends Degrees Male White Asian Black Hispanic Intl Earnings Earn % Earn z ROI Employment Debt-to-Earn Accept SAT p25 SAT p75
Montana State University 2,810 50% 86% 1% 0% 5% 1% $69,508 42 -0.54 68 96% 10.0%
Biomedical Engineering 38 — 55% 71% 3% 0% 5% 8% $90,582 23 -0.70 90 — — — — —
Chemical Engineering 47 — 68% 87% 0% 0% 6% 0% $93,543 11 -1.23 91 95% — — — —
Civil Engineering 51 — 86% 86% 0% 0% 4% 4% $84,763 12 -1.08 86 97% — — — —
Computer Engineering 17 — 88% 82% 6% 0% 6% 0% $101,000 13 -0.76 95 100% — — — —
Electrical Engineering 41 — 100% 88% 2% 0% 2% 2% $106,645 29 -0.49 97 98% — — — —
Environmental Engineering 41 — 51% 93% 0% 0% 2% 0% $87,412 60 +0.28 88 — — — — —
Industrial Engineering 13 — 46% 85% 0% 0% 8% 8% $90,209 2 -1.51 89 91% — — — —
Mechanical Engineering 153 — 88% 90% 2% 0% 3% 1% $93,596 22 -0.70 91 96% — — — —
Computer Science 112 — 85% 88% 1% 1% 5% 0% $115,492 44 -0.28 98 100% — — — —
Data Science 1 +1 100% 100% 0% 0% 0% 0% $84,030 12 -1.23 85 — — — — —
Astronomy 3 +1 67% 67% 0% 0% 0% 33% $71,987 15 -0.84 72 — — — — —
Chemistry 45 — 53% 87% 4% 0% 4% 0% $65,866 24 -0.55 61 — — — — —
Geosciences 34 — 65% 85% 0% 0% 9% 0% $61,027 38 -0.36 49 98% — — — —
Mathematics 20 — 70% 100% 0% 0% 0% 0% $75,835 46 -0.36 77 91% — — — —
Physics 10 +1 70% 90% 0% 0% 10% 0% $72,726 17 -0.78 73 — — — — —
Statistics 8 — 50% 100% 0% 0% 0% 0% $74,811 5 -1.07 76 — — — — —
Biology 127 — 61% 91% 0% 0% 2% 0% $46,645 1 -2.30 14 95% — — — —
Biotechnology 8 — 62% 88% 12% 0% 0% 0% $65,990 21 -0.49 61 — — — — —
Cell Biology and Histology 53 +3 25% 81% 2% 0% 8% 4% $67,724 30 -0.34 65 100% — — — —
Medical Microbiology and Bacteriology 55 — 35% 78% 0% 0% 15% 0% $74,221 75 +0.53 75 100% — — — —
Agricultural Business and Management 23 — 61% 87% 0% 0% 9% 4% $80,925 70 +0.61 83 94% — — — —
Animal Sciences 44 — 16% 91% 0% 2% 2% 0% $50,666 33 -0.44 22 96% — — — —
Environmental Science 69 — 45% 84% 1% 1% 1% 0% $61,247 68 +0.33 50 100% — — — —
Farm/Farm and Ranch Management 4 — 75% 100% 0% 0% 0% 0% $80,925 70 +0.61 83 94% — — — —
Foods, Nutrition, and Wellness Studies 17 — 0% 88% 6% 0% 6% 0% $57,924 22 -0.58 41 — — — — —
Plant Science 35 +1 51% 89% 0% 0% 6% 0% $58,666 40 -0.26 43 93% — — — —
Exercise Science and Kinesiology 89 — 34% 92% 1% 0% 6% 1% $58,227 39 -0.41 42 — — — — —
Kinesiology 20 — 30% 75% 0% 0% 5% 10% $58,513 40 -0.38 43 — — — — —
Nursing 246 — 12% 81% 2% 0% 5% 1% $81,063 6 -1.11 83 98% — — — —
Economics 24 +6 75% 83% 0% 0% 0% 4% $71,085 11 -1.01 71 96% — — — —
Finance and Financial Management Services 14 — 86% 100% 0% 0% 0% 0% $81,179 24 -0.62 83 — — — — —
General Business 456 +6 66% 87% 1% 1% 5% 0% $70,485 43 -0.37 70 96% — — — —
Hospitality Management 9 — 0% 67% 0% 0% 11% 0% $56,478 32 -0.37 37 — — — — —
East Asian Languages 4 — 50% 75% 25% 0% 0% 0% $52,561 31 -0.49 27 — — — — —
English 43 +7 33% 93% 0% 0% 2% 0% $47,920 29 -0.55 16 92% — — — —
French 2 — 50% 100% 0% 0% 0% 0% $52,224 30 -0.52 26 — — — — —
German 7 +2 43% 100% 0% 0% 0% 0% $52,354 31 -0.51 26 — — — — —
History 28 +1 75% 89% 4% 0% 7% 0% $58,497 69 +0.15 43 91% — — — —
Interdisciplinary Studies 1 — 0% 100% 0% 0% 0% 0% $51,929 26 -0.52 25 — — — — —
Latin American Languages 4 +2 25% 75% 0% 0% 25% 0% $52,468 31 -0.50 27 — — — — —
Philosophy 7 +2 86% 71% 0% 0% 29% 0% $50,287 19 -0.84 21 — — — — —
Anthropology 15 — 33% 73% 0% 0% 13% 0% $46,484 6 -0.94 13 89% — — — —
Family and Consumer Sciences 65 — 11% 78% 0% 2% 12% 0% $54,118 52 +0.10 31 94% — — — —
Political Science 42 +1 38% 90% 2% 0% 0% 0% $68,765 42 -0.25 67 95% — — — —
Psychology 159 +6 25% 84% 2% 1% 8% 0% $54,525 50 -0.08 32 88% — — — —
Sociology 68 +10 25% 79% 3% 0% 10% 0% $51,174 29 -0.52 23 100% — — — —
Sustainability Studies 10 — 30% 90% 0% 0% 10% 0% $41,295 2 -2.07 6 95% — — — —
Wildlife, Fish and Wildlands Science and Management 9 — 67% 89% 0% 0% 0% 0% $55,727 25 -0.56 35 96% — — — —
Agricultural Teacher Education 17 — 12% 82% 0% 0% 6% 0% $48,750 10 -1.18 18 95% — — — —
Early Childhood Education 15 — 0% 87% 0% 0% 13% 0% $44,602 9 -1.14 10 92% — — — —
Elementary Education 36 — 8% 83% 0% 3% 8% 0% $44,602 9 -1.14 10 92% — — — —
General Education 50 — 34% 80% 0% 0% 6% 0% $50,903 29 -0.49 23 98% 10.0% — — —
Science Teacher Education/General Science Teacher Education 6 — 17% 100% 0% 0% 0% 0% $48,750 9 -0.86 18 95% — — — —
Social Science Teacher Education 12 — 75% 83% 0% 0% 0% 8% $48,750 6 -1.12 18 95% — — — —
Technical Teacher Education 4 — 100% 100% 0% 0% 0% 0% $48,750 18 -0.74 18 95% — — — —
Architectural and Building Sciences/Technology 65 — 40% 88% 0% 0% 5% 2% $62,341 20 -0.66 53 100% — — — —
Art/Art Studies 53 +2 30% 94% 2% 0% 2% 0% $49,234 64 +0.26 19 91% — — — —
Film Production 69 +4 55% 84% 0% 0% 4% 1% $46,126 27 -0.43 13 90% — — — —
Music 8 — 50% 75% 25% 0% 0% 0% $46,385 47 -0.04 13 91% — — — —
Music Education 13 — 38% 85% 0% 0% 0% 8% $48,750 58 +0.22 18 95% — — — —
Construction Engineering Technology/Technician 30 — 93% 80% 3% 0% 7% 0% $103,495 54 +0.27 96 98% — — — —
Mechanical/Mechanical Engineering Technology/Technician 41 — 88% 100% 0% 0% 0% 0% $84,209 27 -0.38 85 94% — — — —

Financial

In-State Tuition & Fees $8,671
Out-of-State Tuition & Fees $34,333
Est. In-State Cost $11,217
Est. Out-of-State Cost $44,413
ROI Percentile 68th

Retention & Graduation

Full-Time Retention 78%
4-Year Graduation Rate 37%
6-Year Graduation Rate 57%
Transfer-Out Rate 24%

Earnings by Major Category

Each major category's degree-weighted estimated median 5-year earnings at this college, expressed as a z-score against the national degree-weighted distribution for that category. 0 is the national average. The shaded band between +1.28 and −1.28 marks the central 80% of the national distribution (10th–90th percentile).

Academics

⇅ % Degrees Male White Asian Black Hispanic Intl Earnings Earn % Earn z ROI Employment Debt-to-Earn
Business & Economics 17.9% 503 66% 87% 1% 1% 4% 0% $70,561 27 -0.41 70 96% —
Engineering 14.3% 401 79% 87% 1% 0% 4% 2% $93,087 11 -0.72 91 96% —
Social Sciences 13.1% 368 25% 83% 2% 1% 8% 0% $54,801 34 -0.25 33 93% —
Health Sciences 12.6% 355 19% 84% 1% 0% 5% 1% $74,067 38 -0.90 75 98% —
Life & Natural Sciences 8.6% 243 47% 86% 1% 0% 6% 1% $58,121 13 -1.17 42 97% —
Arts 7.4% 208 43% 88% 1% 0% 3% 1% $52,159 53 -0.27 26 94% —
Agriculture & Food Science 6.8% 192 38% 88% 1% 1% 4% 1% $60,825 53 +0.00 49 97% —
Education 5.0% 140 26% 84% 0% 1% 6% 1% $48,008 16 -0.89 16 95% 10.0%
Physical Sciences & Math 4.3% 120 61% 89% 2% 0% 5% 1% $67,477 18 -0.53 64 95% —
Computer Science 4.0% 113 85% 88% 1% 1% 5% 0% $115,214 59 -0.28 98 100% —
Humanities 3.4% 96 50% 90% 2% 0% 6% 0% $52,015 31 -0.36 25 92% —
Professional 2.5% 71 90% 92% 1% 0% 3% 0% $92,358 90 -0.10 91 96% —

Research R1

⇅ Research $ Rank Federal Industry $ PhDs Rank PhD students Postdocs
Engineering $79.3M #64 82% $0.4M 13 #166 94 5
Agriculture & Food Science $61.0M #33 41% $0.3M 10 #51 93 12
Physical Sciences & Math $39.6M #84 74% $0.1M 24 #111 199 12
Life & Natural Sciences $15.8M #134 62% $0.1M 14 #127 85 10
Health Sciences $9.8M #139 65% $0.1M 3 #201 — —
Education $7.3M #72 29% $0 7 #364 — —
Humanities & Social Sciences $6.3M #179 24% $0.0M 7 #260 15 —
Computer Science $4.2M #145 71% $0.0M 5 #138 26 —
Business & Economics $2.2M #154 10% $0 — — — —
Total $225M #116 63% $1.0M 83 #197 512 39

Expenditure and funding source: NSF HERD, FY2024. Degrees: IPEDS completions, 2023–24. Students and postdocs: NSF Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates, fall 2024, which covers science, engineering and selected health fields only. An em dash means the source does not report the figure, which is not the same as zero.

Sports NCAA D1

⇅ Athletes ▼ Revenue Expenses Net
Football 114 $14.9M $10.1M $4.7M
Track & Field (combined) 93 $871K $1.0M -$147K
Basketball 16 $2.4M $2.8M -$392K
Skiing 13 $606K $656K -$49K
Tennis 9 $409K $469K -$60K
Total 192 $19.2M $15.1M $4.1M
⇅ Athletes ▼ Revenue Expenses Net
Track & Field (combined) 123 $1.2M $1.2M -$11K
Volleyball 19 $949K $1.2M -$208K
Basketball 15 $2.0M $2.4M -$409K
Skiing 15 $587K $715K -$127K
Tennis 9 $490K $624K -$133K
Golf 8 $609K $684K -$74K
Total 121 $5.8M $6.8M -$964K
⇅ Athletes ▼ Revenue Expenses Net
Track & Field (combined) 216 $2.1M $2.2M -$158K
Football 114 $14.9M $10.1M $4.7M
Basketball 31 $4.4M $5.2M -$802K
Skiing 28 $1.2M $1.4M -$177K
Volleyball 19 $949K $1.2M -$208K
Tennis 18 $900K $1.1M -$193K
Golf 8 $609K $684K -$74K
Total 313 $33.7M $32.9M $787K

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Equity in Athletics Data Analysis. Each team's revenue and expenses are what the college attributes to it. The Total view's totals row is the department's grand total, which also includes money not attributed to any team; the Male and Female totals rows only add up their teams.

Admissions

Uses Common App Yes
Acceptance Rate 99%
Yield (non-ED) 19%
Regular Decision Jan 1

Acceptance Rates

In-State Out-of-State International
Regular Decision 100% 99% 100%

Standardized Tests

Test Policy optional
Submitted Test Scores 43%
SAT Range 1070 – 1290
SAT Math Range 520 – 640
SAT RW Range 540 – 660