Private nonprofit · College
Stephens College
Columbia, Missouri · Midsize city
- 77.2%
- Admit rate
- $23,459
- Avg net price
- 43%
- Graduation rate
- $43,071
- Median earnings
Stephens College is a private nonprofit bachelor's-granting institution in Columbia, Missouri (midsize city setting), enrolling 391 undergraduates. It is a women's college.
About Columbia, Missouri
Columbia is a city in Boone County, Missouri, United States, and its county seat. Columbia's origins begin with the settlement of American pioneers from Kentucky and Virginia in an early 1800s region known as the Boonslick. The Missouri Theatre Center for the Arts and Jesse Auditorium are Columbia's largest fine arts venues. Ragtag Cinema annually hosts the True/False Film Festival. (Wikipedia)
- Setting
- Midsize city
- Highest degree offered
- Graduate
- Nearest big city
- 1 mile to Columbia, MO
- To Great Lakes shore
- 317 miles
- Nearest airport
- 11 miles to Columbia (COU)
How Stephens College compares
More selective than 50% · #26 most selective of 44 in Missouri
Higher than 27% · #39 of 51 in Missouri
Higher than 57%
Higher than 19% · #37 of 53 in Missouri
Cheaper than 34% · #41 cheapest of 51 in Missouri
Lower than 11%
Lower than 89%
Larger than 18%
Percentiles compare Stephens College with the nation's 2,196 four-year colleges, among schools reporting each statistic. State ranks count four-year colleges in Missouri.
Student body
Undergraduate vs. graduate
- Undergraduate39169%
- Graduate17631%
Undergraduates by race / ethnicity
- White49%
- Black8.4%
- Hispanic1.0%
- Asian1.5%
- Other or multiracial40%
Graduate gender splits aren't published in this data, so the gender chart covers undergraduates only.
By the numbers
- Undergraduate enrollment
- 391
- Graduate enrollment
- 176
- Student–faculty ratio
- 8 : 1
- Pell Grant recipients
- 45%
- First-generation students
- 31%
- Students over 25
- 11%
- Median family income
- $40,725
- Avg faculty salary (academic year)
- $70,020
- Endowment
- $58,198,157
Colleges don't publish true class-size data; student–faculty ratio (IPEDS) is the closest public measure of it.
Admissions
- Admission rate
- 77.2%
- Test scores
- Not considered
- SAT range (25th–75th %)
- —
- SAT average
- —
- SAT reading
- —
- SAT math
- —
- ACT composite
- —
Cost
- In-state tuition
- $28,300
- Room & board
- $13,366
- Books & supplies
- $1,240
- Total cost of attendance
- $46,643
- Average net price
- $23,459
Net price is the total cost minus grants and scholarships — what students actually pay. It varies sharply by family income; see the breakdown below.
Outcomes
- Graduated (within 6 years)
- 43%
- Graduated on time (4 years)
- 18%
- First-year retention
- 78%
- Transferred to another college
- 39%
- Median earnings, 6 years after entry
- $36,778
- Median earnings, 10 years after entry
- $43,071
- Median debt at graduation
- $27,000
- Students with federal loans
- 62%
- Paying down their loans (1 year in)
- 53%
About 25% of students who finish here need more than four years — each extra year adds roughly another year of tuition and living costs.
Graduating on time
By student background (4 years)
When these bars run close together, students from every background tend to finish at similar rates — a sign the school supports the ~30% who are first-gen or low-income.
Campus life & athletics
- On-campus housing
- Yes
- Dorm capacity
- 327
- Dorm capacity vs undergrads
- 84%
- Housing charge (year)
- $5,510
- Meal plan (year)
- $4,950
- Application fee
- Free
- Athletics
- NAIA Division I
- Varsity athletes
- 77 (0 men · 77 women)
Housing and fees: IPEDS 2023–24. Athletics rosters: Equity in Athletics data, 2024–25. Dorm capacity can include graduate and family housing, so the share of undergrads can top 100%.
Varsity sports (4)
Athlete counts per sport, Equity in Athletics data, 2024–25.
Campus safety
- Safety grade
- C
- Reported offenses per 1,000 students
- 2.4 / year
- Violent offenses (2022–2024)
- 3
- Property offenses (2022–2024)
- 1
On-campus criminal offenses reported under the Clery Act, 2022–2024, across 2 campuses (568 students). Counts reflect reports, not convictions — schools with strong reporting cultures often show more, so a higher count doesn't simply mean a more dangerous campus.
Reported offenses in an average year
The same 2022–2024 Clery Act reports, divided down to one year.
By offense type, per year
Averages, not a forecast — a single year can run well above or below this. Bars are scaled against this campus's most-reported offense, so they compare types here rather than against other schools.
What you'll actually pay, by family income
Average net price (total cost minus grants and scholarships) paid by aided students in each family-income band.
College Scorecard / IPEDS, most recent year. Family income is total household income; net price covers tuition, fees, room, board and supplies after grant aid, for students receiving federal aid.
Four-year (or more) true cost
Net price for your family's income, projected across the time it actually takes students here to graduate.
$18,547/year × about 4.9 years — most students here don't finish in exactly four, and each extra term adds cost. A planning estimate from net-price and graduation-timing data, not a bill.
Does the school pay you to attend?
Grant aid from the school's own funds — the discount off sticker, on top of any federal or state help.
A meaningful share of freshmen — 100% — get grant money from Stephens College itself, averaging $16,227, which softens the sticker price.
Blends need-based and merit aid — IPEDS doesn't split the two, so a high number can mean generous merit scholarships, deep need-based aid, or both. Figures cover 72 full-time first-year undergraduates, 2022–23. Source: IPEDS Student Financial Aid.
Is it worth it?
A rough return-on-investment read from what graduates earn versus what they borrow.
- Median earnings (10 years)
- $43,071
- Typical debt at graduation
- $27,000
- Debt vs. one year's pay
- 63%
- Out-earn a HS grad
- 56%
Typical debt would take roughly 6.3 years to repay at about a tenth of median earnings.
The payoff is less clear-cut here — weigh the debt against the earnings and your intended field before borrowing heavily.
Earnings are the College Scorecard median for former students (working, not enrolled) 10 years after entry — not a guarantee, and they vary a lot by major. Debt is the median federal loan balance at graduation.
Campus climate
- Summer high
- 89°F
- Winter low
- 22°F
- Annual rain
- 44.8″
- Annual snow
- 17.4″
Average temperature
HighLowAverage precipitation (inches)
NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals, Columbia U OF M, MO US station (0.7 mi from campus).
What Stephens College graduates study — and earn
Median earnings of this school's own graduates 1 and 5 years after finishing each program, and median federal-loan debt at completion (College Scorecard). Small programs are privacy-suppressed (—). Click a major to compare colleges nationally.
Colleges similar to Stephens College
Schools with a comparable profile — size, selectivity, cost, and graduate outcomes. Compare Stephens College side by side →
Hannibal-LaGrange University
Hannibal, Missouri · Remote town · 74 mi to Columbia
- Students
- 410
- Admission
- 73%
- Net price
- $23k
- SAT
- 1090
- GPA
- 3.2
- Earnings
- $43k
Albizu University-Miami
Miami, Florida · Small city · 10 mi to Miami
- Students
- 287
- Admission
- 76%
- Net price
- $20k
- SAT
- —
- GPA
- —
- Earnings
- $42k
Salem College
Winston-Salem, North Carolina · Large city · 1 mi to Winston-Salem
- Students
- 423
- Admission
- 77%
- Net price
- $18k
- SAT
- 1082
- GPA
- 3.1
- Earnings
- $45k
Paul Smiths College of Arts and Science
Paul Smiths, New York · Distant rural · 51 mi to Burlington
- Students
- 579
- Admission
- 77%
- Net price
- $27k
- SAT
- —
- GPA
- —
- Earnings
- $46k
Maranatha Baptist University
Watertown, Wisconsin · Fringe town · 35 mi to Madison
- Students
- 541
- Admission
- 72%
- Net price
- $26k
- SAT
- 1170
- GPA
- 3.4
- Earnings
- $46k
College of the Atlantic
Bar Harbor, Maine · Remote rural · 113 mi to Portland
- Students
- 353
- Admission
- 70%
- Net price
- $25k
- SAT
- 1370
- GPA
- 3.8
- Earnings
- $40k
Colleges near Stephens College
Columbia College
Columbia, MO · Private nonprofit · Bachelor's · 4,950 students
University of Missouri-Columbia
Columbia, MO · Public · Bachelor's · 23,929 students
Paul Mitchell the School-Missouri Columbia
Columbia, MO · Private for-profit · Certificate · 107 students
Westminster College
Fulton, MO · Private nonprofit · Bachelor's · 638 students
William Woods University
Fulton, MO · Private nonprofit · Bachelor's · 1,300 students
Central Methodist University-College of Graduate and Extended Studies
Fayette, MO · Private nonprofit · Bachelor's · 2,092 students
Central Methodist University-College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Fayette, MO · Private nonprofit · Bachelor's · 1,040 students
Missouri College of Cosmetology and Esthetics
Jefferson City, MO · Private for-profit · Certificate · 97 students
Source: US Department of Education College Scorecard (most recent cohorts), IPEDS institutional characteristics, Equity in Athletics (EADA) data, Clery Act Campus Safety and Security data, and NOAA US Climate Normals. Distances are straight-line from campus coordinates. Percentiles compare schools of the same level (four-year vs. two-year) that report each statistic.













