Sterling College is a private, nonprofit institution in Kansas, enrolling 539 students as of 2024. It graduates 27% of students in four years, returns 50% of freshmen for a second year, and costs an average of $23,531 a year after grants and scholarships. Of the 9 inspection checks that could be evaluated, 8 are flagged: Retention, Graduation, Equity Gap, Revenue to Expenses, Enrollment, Endowment, Cost vs. Completion, and Tuition Allocation. This report benchmarks Sterling College's most recent reported year (2024) against 2,000+ U.S. colleges across three dimensions: student outcomes, financial health, and value for money. All figures are drawn from federal IPEDS filings and are reported without editorial judgment.
Sterling College Inspection Flags
Inspection flags are nine independent checks across student outcomes, financial health, and cost-to-value that surface areas of a college's reported numbers worth a closer look. A triggered flag means the college's data met a specific threshold that students and families may want to ask about — for example, graduation rates slipping below a level, or tuition rising while outcomes decline. A clear flag means the threshold was not met. Flags are signals for further conversation, not verdicts.
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Student Outcomes
How students at Sterling College complete their degrees, benchmarked against U.S. four-year colleges.
College Financial Health
How financially stable Sterling College is, benchmarked against U.S. four-year colleges.
Value for Your Money
How Sterling College spends its budget and what families pay, benchmarked against U.S. four-year colleges.
How Much Will This Cost for Your Income Level?
Net price is the average annual out-of-pocket cost for first-time, full-time undergraduate students — tuition + fees + room & board, minus the grants and scholarships the institution reports providing to students in each income bracket. Select your household income below to see the reported figure for that group.
Sterling College — All Reported Indicators
Plain-text reference table of every metric and inspection flag for Sterling College. Values reflect IPEDS-reported figures; percent changes reflect endpoint-to-endpoint 2020 → 2024 comparison; percentiles reflect 2024 national rank against four-year public and private nonprofit institutions. Cells marked "not reported" indicate the indicator was not present in IPEDS for this institution.
Student Outcomes
| Metric | 2024 Value | 5-Yr % Change | National Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| Four-Year Graduation Rate | 27.0% | -30.8% | 27th |
| Six-Year Graduation Rate | 37.0% | -30.2% | 21st |
| Full-Time Retention Rate | 50.0% | -13.8% | 5th |
| Pell Grant Six-Year Graduation Rate | 41.6% | +3.4% | 37th |
| Pell-to-Non-Pell Graduation Gap | -0.5pp | -103.4% | 15th |
| Pell Share of Cohort | 49.7% | -14.6% | 70th |
Financial Health
| Metric | 2024 Value | 5-Yr % Change | National Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue-to-Expense Ratio | 0.85× | -3.8% | 6th |
| Total FTE Enrollment | 539 | -9.9% | 22nd |
| Endowment Value | $13.5M | +0.4% | 24th |
| Net Assets (End of Year) | $33.3M | -4.9% | 29th |
Value for Money
| Metric | 2024 Value | 5-Yr % Change | National Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| Instructional Spending % | 23.2% | -4.1% | 16th |
| Student Support Spending % | 23.5% | -10.1% | 86th |
| Administrative Spending % | 22.5% | +7.8% | 67th |
| Instruction+Support to Admin Ratio | 2.08× | -13.9% | 31st |
| Average Net Price | $23,531 | -2.2% | 68th |
| Net Price: $0-30K Income | $19,068 | -2.3% | 72nd |
| Net Price: $30K-48K Income | $19,236 | -14.6% | 74th |
| Net Price: $48-75K Income | $21,975 | -5.5% | 76th |
| Net Price: $75K-110K Income | $23,525 | -4.4% | 66th |
| Net Price: $110K+ Income | $26,602 | -6.3% | 58th |
Inspection Flags
| Flag | Section | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Retention Below 80% Sterling College's retention rate fell below 80% in 5 of 5 reported years — triggering the 3-of-5 threshold. | Student Outcomes | Triggered |
| Four-Year Graduation Rate Below 50% Sterling College's 4-year graduation rate fell below 50% in 5 of 5 reported years — triggering the 3-of-5 threshold. | Student Outcomes | Triggered |
| Pell Gap Exceeds 10 Points Sterling College's Pell graduation gap exceeded 10 percentage points in 3 of 5 eligible years — triggering the 3-of-5 threshold. | Student Outcomes | Triggered |
| Revenue-to-Expense Below 1.0 Sterling College's revenue-to-expense ratio fell below 1.0 in 5 of 5 reported years — triggering the 3-of-5 threshold. 2024: 0.85×. | Financial Health | Triggered |
| Enrollment Declined 5% or More Sterling College's total enrollment fell from 598 to 539 students between 2020 and 2024 (-9.9%) — a decline of 5% or more. | Financial Health | Triggered |
| Endowment Under $50M or Growth Under 15% Sterling College's endowment is $13.5M — under $50 million — and grew +0.4% between 2020 and 2024, below the 15% growth threshold. Both conditions are met. | Financial Health | Triggered |
| High Cost, Low Completion Sterling College costs more than the national median AND graduates students at below-median rates — both conditions for this flag are met. | Value for Money | Triggered |
| Spending on Students Below the National Median Sterling College spends $2.08 on instruction and student support per $1 of admin (2024) — below the national median of $2.75 in 4 of 5 reported years. | Value for Money | Triggered |
| Rising Price, Falling Outcomes Either net price did not rise or the graduation rate did not decline between 2020 and 2024 — flag not triggered. | Value for Money | Cleared |