Saint Cloud State University Overview

Saint Cloud State University is a public institution located in Saint Cloud, Minnesota. The city atmosphere of Saint Cloud makes it a great place for students who enjoy having lots of educational and entertainment options.

What Is Saint Cloud State University Known For?

• Students at St. Cloud State University have an easier time paying back their loans. The school's student loan default rate is only 5%, compared to the national rate of 10.1%.
• The doctor's degree is the highest award offered at St. Cloud State University.
• For the 2019-2020 academic year, 65% of the faculty were full-time.
• A student who earns a bachelor's degree from St. Cloud State University makes roughly $51,372 a year. This is 26% more than their peers from other colleges and universities.

Saint Cloud State University Rankings

St. Cloud State University landed the #404 spot in our 2023 ranking of best colleges. We analyzed 2,018 colleges and universities across the nation to determine this ranking.

These rankings may look different from those published by other outlets, because we use an outcomes-based approach rather than a subjective one. We get our data from a number of places, including the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and the College Scorecard. For more information, check out our rankings and methodology page.

Program Level Awards

These are highlights of some of the most noteworthy awards granted to specific programs at St. Cloud State University.

Rank	Ranking Name	Share
#3	Best Health & Physical Education Master’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#3	Best Recreation Administration Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#8	Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#21	Best Natural Resources & Conservation Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#22	Best Natural Resources Conservation Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#24	Best Social Work Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#31	Best Public & Social Service Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#51	Best Law Enforcement & Firefighting Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#53	Best General Psychology Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#126	Best Psychology Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It

Awards From Around the Web

The following table lists some notable awards St. Cloud State University has earned from around the web.

Rank	Ranking Name	Source
#33	Best Reading Teacher Education Graduate Degree Schools	College Factual
#55	Best General Special Education Graduate Degree Schools	College Factual
#60	Best Criminal Justice Studies Schools	College Factual
#70	Best Special Education Graduate Degree Schools	College Factual
#108	Best Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting Schools	College Factual
#108	Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Schools	College Factual

Where Is Saint Cloud State University?

Contact details for St. Cloud State University are given below.

	Contact Details
Address:	720 Fourth Ave. South, Saint Cloud, MN 56301-4498
Phone:	320-308-0121
Website:	www.stcloudstate.edu
Facebook:	https://www.facebook.com/stcloudstate
Twitter:	https://twitter.com/stcloudstate

How Do I Get Into St. Cloud State University?

You can apply to St. Cloud State University online at: https://www.stcloudstate.edu/apply/default.aspx

Admission Requirements for St. Cloud State University

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	required

How Hard Is It To Get Into St. Cloud State University?

St. Cloud State University has an acceptance rate of 73%, which means that is not quite as selective as some other schools. Still, you'll need good grades and a solid application if you want to be admitted.

Approximately 41% of accepted students are men and 59% are women. The acceptance rate for men is 71%, and the acceptance rate for women is 75%.

Average Test Scores

About 4% of students accepted to St. Cloud State University submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 500 and 600. Math scores were between 500 and 650.

St. Cloud State University received ACT scores from 87% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT English scores ranged between 18 and 24. Math scores were between 17 and 25. Composite scores were between 18 and 24.

Can I Afford Saint Cloud State University?

The overall average net price of St. Cloud State University is $24,623. 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

Almost 66% of college students who graduated with the class of 2018 took out student loans, but that percentage varies from school to school. At St. Cloud State University, approximately 57% of students took out student loans averaging $8,313 a year. That adds up to $33,252 over four years for those students.

The student loan default rate at St. Cloud State University is 4.6%. 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.

Saint Cloud State University Undergraduate Student Diversity

There are 10,187 undergraduate students at St. Cloud State University, with 5,959 being full-time and 4,228 being part-time.

There are also 1,654 graduate students at the school.

Gender Diversity

Of the 5,959 full-time undergraduates at St. Cloud State University, 48% are male and 52% are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

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

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	390
Black or African American	517
Hispanic or Latino	285
White	3,837
International Students	658
Other Races/Ethnicities	272

Geographic Diversity

Minnesota students aren't the only ones who study at Saint Cloud State University. At this time, 30 states are represented by the student population at the school.

Over 93 countries are represented at St. Cloud State University. The most popular countries sending students to the school are Nepal, India, and China.

Online Learning at Saint Cloud State University

In 2019-2020, 4,725 students took at least one online class at the school.

The following chart shows how the online learning population at St. Cloud State University has changed over the last few years.

This school is the 14th most popular in Minnesota for online learning according to the online graduations recorded by the Department of Education for the academic year 2019-2020.

Online Affordability Rankings of St. Cloud State University

During the most recent year for which we have data, the full-time undergraduate tuition at Saint Cloud State University was $8,779 for in-state students. Out-of-state students paid $17,195. The following table shows how St. Cloud State University 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
Computer Engineering	#4	#3
Electrical Engineering	#10	#1
Teaching English or French	#19	#22
Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology	#28	#25
General English Literature	#34	#19
Psychology	#34	#41
Engineering-Related Fields	#37	#37
English Language & Literature	#37	#19
Engineering	#37	#25
Engineering Technologies	#43	#34
General Business/Commerce	#52	#65
General Psychology	#55	#88
Instructional Media Design	#71	#49

Online Growth Rankings of St. Cloud State University

The average growth rate over the last four years of online students at Saint Cloud State University was 5.7%. This is the #1,528 largest growth rate of all schools that are only partially online. This refers to all students at St. Cloud State University regardless of major.

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

Major	1-Year Growth Rate
Computer & Information Sciences	11%
Computer Science	9%
Criminal Justice & Corrections	2%
Engineering-Related Fields	33%
General Business/Commerce	56%
General Psychology	3%
Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting	2%
Information Technology	12%
Instructional Media Design	70%
Public Administration	14%
Social Sciences	7%

The table below shows how the average growth rate over 4 years at St. Cloud State University 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 St. Cloud State University.

Major	Growth Rate Rank
Historic Preservation	#1
Urban Studies	#4
Electrical Engineering	#58
Computer Engineering	#64
Engineering-Related Fields	#94
Teaching English or French	#104
Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology	#159
Public Administration	#177
Engineering	#183
Instructional Media Design	#238
General Psychology	#270
Engineering Technologies	#279
General Business/Commerce	#305
Teacher Education Subject Specific	#329
Social Sciences	#383
Public Administration & Social Service	#399
Psychology	#404
Multi / Interdisciplinary Studies	#421
Educational Administration	#475

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%.

Saint Cloud State University Undergraduate Concentrations

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

Major	Basic Certificate	Associate’s	Bachelor’s	Graduate Certificate	Master’s	Doctor’s	TOTAL
Information Technology	0	0	141	0	26	0	167
Business Administration & Management	0	0	85	0	49	0	134
Liberal Arts General Studies	0	121	0	0	0	0	121
Nursing	0	0	106	0	0	0	106
Other Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies	0	1	99	0	6	0	106
Communication & Media Studies	7	0	95	0	3	0	105
Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology	0	0	55	0	47	0	102
Teacher Education Subject Specific	0	0	64	15	22	0	101
Social Work	0	0	58	0	36	0	94
General Biology	0	0	78	0	7	0	85
Criminal Justice & Corrections	0	0	74	0	10	0	84
Teacher Education Grade Specific	0	0	82	0	0	0	82
Special Education	0	0	25	27	28	0	80
Marketing	22	0	53	0	0	0	75
Educational Administration	0	0	0	18	26	24	68
Finance & Financial Management	0	0	67	0	0	0	67
Computer Science	0	0	52	0	12	0	64
General Psychology	0	0	62	0	0	0	62
Engineering-Related Fields	0	0	0	0	48	0	48
Accounting	0	0	42	0	0	0	42
Political Science & Government	0	0	39	0	0	0	39
Mechanical Engineering	0	0	36	0	0	0	36
Allied Health Professions	0	0	35	0	0	0	35
Communication Sciences	0	0	14	0	19	0	33
General Business/Commerce	0	0	32	0	0	0	32
General English Literature	0	0	28	0	4	0	32
Student Counseling	0	0	0	2	25	0	27
Electrical Engineering	0	0	23	0	4	0	27
Teaching English or French	2	0	0	1	21	0	24
Industrial Production Technology	0	0	24	0	0	0	24
Biomedical Engineering	0	0	0	0	23	0	23
Computer Engineering	0	0	22	0	1	0	23
Medical Science	0	0	0	0	23	0	23
International Relations & National Security	0	0	23	0	0	0	23
Mental & Social Health Services	0	0	10	2	10	0	22
Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology	0	0	20	0	0	0	20
Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science	0	0	19	0	0	0	19
Sociology	0	0	18	0	0	0	18
Public Health	0	0	17	0	0	0	17
Design & Applied Arts	0	0	17	0	0	0	17
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions	0	0	0	0	16	0	16
Recreation Administration	0	0	16	0	0	0	16
Economics	0	0	13	0	3	0	16
Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology	0	0	15	0	0	0	15
Atmospheric Sciences & Meteorology	0	0	15	0	0	0	15
Geography & Cartography	0	0	10	3	2	0	15
Hospitality Management	0	0	14	0	0	0	14
Public Administration	0	0	0	0	14	0	14
Engineering-Related Technologies	5	0	8	0	0	0	13
Management Information Systems	12	0	0	0	0	0	12
Fine & Studio Arts	0	0	12	0	0	0	12
Business/Managerial Economics	0	0	11	0	0	0	11
History	0	0	8	0	3	0	11
Natural Resources Conservation	0	0	11	0	0	0	11
Film, Video & Photographic Arts	0	0	11	0	0	0	11
Real Estate	0	0	10	0	0	0	10
Instructional Media Design	0	0	0	6	4	0	10
Systems Engineering	0	0	0	0	10	0	10
Romance Languages	0	0	10	0	0	0	10
Statistics	0	0	10	0	0	0	10
Anthropology	0	0	9	0	0	0	9
Management Sciences & Quantitative Methods	2	0	0	5	0	0	7
Manufacturing Engineering	0	0	7	0	0	0	7
Geological & Earth Sciences	0	0	7	0	0	0	7
Mathematics	0	0	6	0	0	0	6
Chemistry	0	0	6	0	0	0	6
Music	0	0	6	0	0	0	6
Entrepreneurial Studies	0	0	5	0	0	0	5
Historic Preservation	0	0	0	0	5	0	5
Health & Physical Education	0	0	2	0	3	0	5
Urban Studies	0	0	5	0	0	0	5
International Studies	0	0	4	0	0	0	4
Physics	0	0	4	0	0	0	4
Public Relations & Advertising	3	0	0	0	0	0	3
Gerontology	0	0	0	0	3	0	3
Drama & Theater Arts	0	0	3	0	0	0	3
Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences	0	0	0	2	0	0	2
Philosophy	0	0	2	0	0	0	2
Insurance	1	0	0	0	0	0	1
Curriculum & Instruction	0	0	0	0	1	0	1
Human Development & Family Studies	0	0	0	0	1	0	1
Health & Medical Administrative Services	0	0	0	1	0	0	1
Biotechnology	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
International Business	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Quality Control Technology	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Area Studies	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Ethnic Studies	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Germanic Languages	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Science, Technology & Society	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Materials Sciences	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Sociology & Anthropology	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Air Transportation	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TOTAL	54	122	1,855	82	515	24	2,652

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 Xylem22 under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.