Ferris State University Overview

Ferris State University is a public institution located in Big Rapids, Michigan. The location of Ferris is a good match for students who are interested in living in a college town while they pursue their degree.

What Is Ferris State University Known For?

• The highest award offered at Ferris is the doctor's degree.
• In 2019-2020, 69% of the faculty were full-time.
• A student who earns a bachelor's degree from Ferris makes roughly $51,832 a year. This is 27% more than their peers from other colleges and universities.

Ferris State University Rankings

Our rankings are based on an outcomes-based approach rather than subjective ones used by other media outlets. As such, we utilize data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and the College Scorecard, among other sources. Visit our rankings and methodology section to learn more.

Ferris has been awarded the following overall awards by our latest rankings.

Rank	Ranking Name	Share
#40	Best Undergraduate Certificate Schools	Tweet It - Post It

Program Level Awards

These are highlights of some of the most noteworthy awards granted to specific programs at Ferris.

Rank	Ranking Name	Share
#1	Best Heavy Equipment Maintenance Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#1	Best Surveying Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#1	Best English Language & Literature Associate Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#1	Best Writing Studies Associate Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#1	Best Environmental Control Technology Associate Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#2	Best Construction Engineering Associate Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#8	Best Mechanical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#21	Best Health/Medical Admin Services Undergraduate Certificate Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#81	Best Law Enforcement & Firefighting Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#153	Best Health Professions Undergraduate Certificate Schools	Tweet It - Post It

Awards From Around the Web

The following table lists some notable awards Ferris has earned from around the web.

Rank	Ranking Name	Source
#1	Best Surveying Engineering Schools	College Factual
#1	Best Heavy/Industrial Equipment Maintenance Bachelor’s Degree Schools	College Factual
#5	Best Industrial Production Technology Schools	College Factual
#5	Best Mechanical Engineering Technology Schools	College Factual
#22	Best Healthcare Undergraduate Certificate Schools	Healthcare Degree Search
#61	Best Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting Schools	College Factual

Where Is Ferris State University?

Contact details for Ferris are given below.

	Contact Details
Address:	1201 S State St, Big Rapids, MI 49307-2251
Phone:	231-591-2000
Website:	www.ferris.edu/
Facebook:	https://www.facebook.com/FerrisState
Twitter:	https://twitter.com/FerrisState

How Do I Get Into Ferris?

You can apply to Ferris online at: www.ferris.edu/admissions/application/

Admission Requirements for Ferris

Submission	Required?
High School GPA	required
High School Rank	recommended
High School Transcript	required
College Prep Program	recommended
Recommendations	neither required nor recommended
SAT or ACT Scores	required
TOEFL	recommended

How Hard Is It To Get Into Ferris?

The acceptance rate at Ferris State University is 82%. This means that is not quite as selective as some schools, but you'll still need to submit a good application if you want to be considered by the admissions department.

Approximately 38% of accepted students are men and 62% are women. The acceptance rate for men is 80%, and the acceptance rate for women is 84%.

Average Test Scores

About 93% of students accepted to Ferris submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 470 and 580. Math scores were between 470 and 580.

Ferris received ACT scores from 14% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT English scores ranged between 17 and 25. Math scores were between 17 and 25. Composite scores were between 18 and 26.

Can I Afford Ferris State University?

The overall average net price of Ferris is $19,865. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group.

The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.

Student Loan Debt

While almost two-thirds of students nationwide take out loans to pay for college, the percentage may be quite different for the school you plan on attending. At Ferris, approximately 67% of students took out student loans averaging $7,608 a year. That adds up to $30,432 over four years for those students.

The student loan default rate at Ferris is 5.3%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you'll be able to pay back your student loans.

Ferris State University Undergraduate Student Diversity

There are 9,929 undergraduate students at Ferris, with 7,127 being full-time and 2,802 being part-time.

There are also 1,236 graduate students at the school.

Gender Diversity

Of the 7,127 full-time undergraduates at Ferris, 48% are male and 52% are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

The racial-ethnic breakdown of Ferris State University students is as follows.

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	92
Black or African American	607
Hispanic or Latino	412
White	5,527
International Students	92
Other Races/Ethnicities	397

Geographic Diversity

Michigan students aren't the only ones who study at Ferris State University. At this time, 17 states are represented by the student population at the school.

Over 48 countries are represented at Ferris. The most popular countries sending students to the school are Saudi Arabia, India, and China.

Online Learning at Ferris State University

In 2019-2020, 9,093 students took at least one online class at the school.

The following chart shows how the online learning population at Ferris has changed over the last few years.

This school is the 39th most popular in Michigan for online learning according to the online graduations recorded by the Department of Education for the academic year 2019-2020.

Online Affordability Rankings of Ferris

During the most recent year for which we have data, the full-time undergraduate tuition at Ferris State University was $12,376 for both in-state and out-of-state students. The following table shows how Ferris is ranked for affordability for both in-state and out-of-state students among colleges and universities that are not mostly online.

Major	Tuition for In-State Students	Tuition for Out-of-State Students
Environmental Control Technology	#3	#3
Engineering-Related Technologies	#4	#1
Other Health Professions	#19	#7
Dental Support Services	#49	#22
Allied Health Professions	#55	#28
Human Resource Management	#64	#73
Public Health	#73	#19

Online Growth Rankings of Ferris

The average growth rate over the last four years of online students at Ferris State University was 32.3%. This is the #847 largest growth rate of all schools that are only partially online. This refers to all students at Ferris regardless of major.

The following table shows the 1-year growth rate of Ferris majors that offer at least one online course. This table only includes majors with positive growth.

Major	1-Year Growth Rate
Business Administration & Management	1%
Health & Medical Administrative Services	8%
Public Health	33%

The table below shows how the average growth rate over 4 years at Ferris ranks compared to all other partially online schools that offer a specific major. Note that the majors may or may not be offered online at Ferris.

Major	Growth Rate Rank
Allied Health Professions	#76
Public Health	#100
Health & Medical Administrative Services	#295
Nursing	#321

When we speak of partially online, we are referring to schools whose online population is less than 50% of its total student body. Mostly online refers to those with online populations greater than or equal to 50%.

Ferris State University Undergraduate Concentrations

The table below shows the number of awards for each concentration.

Major	Basic Certificate	Associate’s	Undergraduate Certificate	Bachelor’s	Graduate Certificate	Master’s	Doctor’s	TOTAL
Criminal Justice & Corrections	0	67	0	301	0	18	0	386
Business Administration & Management	40	28	0	233	20	35	0	356
Nursing	0	0	0	139	0	19	2	160
Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences	0	0	0	0	0	0	137	137
Industrial Production Technology	0	23	0	108	0	0	0	131
Health & Medical Administrative Services	51	9	2	51	0	12	0	125
Mechanical Engineering Technology	3	42	0	77	0	0	0	122
Design & Applied Arts	0	0	0	106	0	6	0	112
Graphic Communications	0	20	0	84	0	0	0	104
Other Health Professions	0	60	0	42	0	0	0	102
Social Work	0	13	0	47	0	42	0	102
Human Development & Family Studies	41	10	0	34	0	0	0	85
Liberal Arts General Studies	0	20	0	63	0	0	0	83
Allied Health Professions	2	61	0	17	0	0	0	80
General Biology	0	0	0	76	0	0	0	76
Precision Metal Working	21	51	0	0	0	0	0	72
Marketing	4	19	0	46	0	0	0	69
Construction Engineering Technology	0	64	0	0	0	0	0	64
Dental Support Services	0	39	0	16	0	0	0	55
Accounting	0	10	0	44	0	0	0	54
Health/Medical Prep Programs	0	33	0	21	0	0	0	54
Information Technology	0	2	0	20	17	12	0	51
Teacher Education Grade Specific	0	9	0	42	0	0	0	51
Teacher Education Subject Specific	0	0	0	34	1	13	0	48
General Psychology	0	13	0	34	0	0	0	47
Construction Management	1	0	0	43	0	0	0	44
Quality Control Technology	44	0	0	0	0	0	0	44
Computer Information Systems	6	5	0	28	0	0	0	39
Optometry	0	0	0	0	0	0	37	37
Hospitality Management	3	0	0	33	0	0	0	36
Educational Administration	0	0	0	0	0	5	28	33
Writing Studies	3	5	0	24	0	0	0	32
Specialized Sales, Merchandising & Marketing	1	0	0	30	0	0	0	31
Architectural Engineering Technology	0	21	0	10	0	0	0	31
Heavy/Industrial Equipment Maintenance	0	17	0	14	0	0	0	31
Human Resource Management	18	0	0	12	0	0	0	30
Environmental Control Technology	0	29	0	0	0	0	0	29
Manufacturing Engineering	0	0	0	27	0	0	0	27
Vehicle Maintenance & Repair	20	6	0	0	0	0	0	26
Public Relations & Advertising	1	0	0	24	0	0	0	25
Arts & Media Management	0	0	0	23	0	0	0	23
Fine & Studio Arts	0	0	0	16	0	7	0	23
Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science	0	1	0	21	0	0	0	22
Audiovisual Communications	0	0	0	18	0	0	0	18
Biological & Physical Science	0	18	0	0	0	0	0	18
Finance & Financial Management	0	0	0	15	0	0	0	15
Computer Systems Networking	0	0	0	15	0	0	0	15
Electronics Maintenance & Repair	5	9	0	0	0	0	0	14
Public Health	0	0	0	5	0	7	0	12
Applied Mathematics	0	0	0	12	0	0	0	12
Management Sciences & Quantitative Methods	0	0	0	11	0	0	0	11
Engineering-Related Technologies	0	11	0	0	0	0	0	11
Surveying Engineering	0	0	0	10	0	0	0	10
Romance Languages	0	0	0	8	0	0	0	8
Culinary Arts	0	8	0	0	0	0	0	8
Chemistry	0	0	0	8	0	0	0	8
Entrepreneurial Studies	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	7
Other Computer & Information Sciences	0	0	0	7	0	0	0	7
Curriculum & Instruction	0	0	0	0	0	7	0	7
Electronics Engineering Technology	0	0	0	7	0	0	0	7
Political Science & Government	0	0	0	7	0	0	0	7
Film, Video & Photographic Arts	0	0	0	7	0	0	0	7
General Architecture	0	0	0	0	0	6	0	6
History	0	0	0	6	0	0	0	6
Biotechnology	0	0	0	5	0	0	0	5
Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology	0	0	0	5	0	0	0	5
Physical Science Technicians	0	5	0	0	0	0	0	5
Business Support & Assistant Services	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	4
Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	3
Civil Engineering Technology	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	3
Insurance	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	2
International Business	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
Data Processing	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
Sociology	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	2
Journalism	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Drafting & Design Engineering Technology	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1
Geography & Cartography	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
General Business/Commerce	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Real Estate	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
General Sales & Marketing	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Communication & Media Studies	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
General Engineering	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Systems Engineering	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Dietetics & Clinical Nutrition Services	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Legal Support Services	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Health & Physical Education	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TOTAL	281	732	2	2,093	38	189	204	3,539

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• National Center for Education Statistics
• Image Credit: By Michael Barera under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.