🎯 Parent/student verdict

Likely

Accessible for most applicants. Affordable on average — net price runs around $17,490/yr. Major value play for in-state residents.

✅ Best for

  • In-state residents (tuition ~$10,701 — major value play)
  • Students drawn to Business, Management, & Marketing or Visual & Performing Arts (the two biggest majors)

🎯 The reality

  • Bottom-quartile academic profile if: ACT below 19 (admitted-class quartiles; GPA floor is a calibrated heuristic where CDS not yet on file)

Verdict is composed from this college's structured data (admit rate, SAT bands, net price by income, Carnegie classification, scholarship grids) using transparent rule thresholds — not a chat-bot's opinion.

🏛️ Institutional snapshot

What kind of college is this?

Carnegie classification
M1: Master's - Larger Programs
Total enrollment
5,842
5,000 - 9,999
In-state tuition
$10,701
sticker, before aid
Out-of-state tuition
$19,265
+$8,564 vs in-state
Admit rate
84.7%
Accepts the majority
ACT middle 50%
19–26
composite
Test policy
Test-optional
2023
10-yr earnings
$58,084
median, after entry

Source: federal IPEDS Admissions 2023 for scores + admit rate; federal College Scorecard (20260606 vintage) for earnings + outcomes. SAT/ACT bands are the 25th–75th percentile of enrolled submitters.

📊 Outcomes & cost

What graduates actually earn, finish, and owe.

Federal College Scorecard data. Earnings are median annual income measured years after entering. Debt is for federal-aid borrowers only (cash-pay students aren't counted).

Earnings, 6 yrs after entry
$50,251
Earnings, 10 yrs after entry
$58,084
4-year completion
55%
Median debt (completers)
$23,000
Cost of attendance
$22,797
sticker price, not net
Pell-eligible students
24%

💰 True ROI

8.3× return

What families actually pay (after aid) vs. the sticker — and how 10-yr earnings stack against the real cost. Most sites quote sticker; we quote what families really pay.

What families actually pay (4 yrs)
$69,960
$17,490/yr avg net
Aid that hides behind the sticker
$21,228
vs sticker $91,188
10-yr earnings total
$580,840
$58,084/yr median, 10 yrs out
Years to recoup actual cost
1.2 yrs
at the median earnings rate

"True ROI" = (10-yr median earnings × 10) ÷ (actual 4-yr net price). The actual net is from Scorecard (average across all families); your family's net price will vary by income — see the breakdown above. Earnings are 10 years after enrollment (Scorecard PP-FOS, all majors combined).

💰 What families actually pay

Net price by family income

Net price = sticker price minus grant aid. This is what families actually pay out-of-pocket after scholarships and need-based aid — the most honest affordability signal there is. At University of Wisconsin-Stout, the average net price is $17,490/yr across all families.

Family income $0-30k
$10,966/yr
Family income $30-48k
$12,229/yr
Family income $48-75k
$13,164/yr
Family income $75-110k
$19,528/yr
Family income $110k+
$22,028/yr

🔎 Earning over $110K? The federal brackets above lump every family from $110K to $1M+ into one row.

Need-based aid usually phases out somewhere between $200K and $300K at private colleges — but the exact threshold varies a lot. For a precise estimate based on your family's actual income, assets, and your student's academic profile, use University of Wisconsin-Stout's official Net Price Calculator:

Get your family's estimate from University of Wisconsin-Stout →

Opens on University of Wisconsin-Stout's site. Takes about 10–15 minutes; have your most recent tax return handy.

Source: College Scorecard (NPT41-NPT45). Net price = total cost of attendance minus federal, state, institutional, and other grants. Some brackets may be suppressed for student-privacy reasons (small cohorts). Title IV first-time, full-time undergraduates only. The $110K+ ceiling is a federal data limitation — Department of Education hasn't refreshed these brackets since the early 2010s.

📚 What students study here

Most popular majors at University of Wisconsin-Stout

Top 5 fields of study by bachelor's degrees awarded (most recent IPEDS Completions). Use this to see what University of Wisconsin-Stout actually graduates — not just what it markets.

1. Business, Management, & Marketing
306 degrees · 31.5%
Typical career outcomes
Financial Analyst $100k Management Analyst (Consultant) $99k Marketing Manager $158k Accountant / Auditor $80k
Broad set of corporate roles. Finance + consulting pay top, accounting + HR pay middle, sales spread is wide.
2. Visual & Performing Arts
189 degrees · 19.4%
Typical career outcomes
Graphic Designer $59k Art Director $106k Multimedia Artist / Animator $99k Musician / Singer $39k
Highly variable. Steady-pay roles cluster in design, illustration, production. Performance careers have very wide income distributions.
3. Computer & Information Sciences
186 degrees · 19.1%
Typical career outcomes
Software Developer $132k Data Scientist $108k Information Security Analyst $120k Web Developer $85k
High-paying tech roles dominate. Median software roles cluster in the $90k-$130k range.
4. Education
152 degrees · 15.6%
Typical career outcomes
Elementary School Teacher $64k Secondary School Teacher $65k School Principal $101k Special Education Teacher $66k
Teaching is the largest path. Salary depends heavily on district + state.
5. Engineering
139 degrees · 14.3%
Typical career outcomes
Mechanical Engineer $100k Electrical Engineer $107k Civil Engineer $93k Chemical Engineer $112k
Engineering majors land high-paying technical roles. Top-earning sub-disciplines: petroleum, chemical, computer engineering.

Source: IPEDS Completions (C2023_a), bachelor's-level first majors aggregated to 2-digit CIP family. Share is of these top 5 only — not all majors.

💼 Top programs by earnings

Highest-earning majors at University of Wisconsin-Stout

Median earnings 4 years after entry, by major (CIP code). From the federal College Scorecard program-level outcomes.

Major (CIP) Credential Cohort 1-yr earnings 4-yr earnings
Construction Management. Bachelor's Degree 40 $72,779 $101,758
Computer Engineering. Bachelor's Degree $80,493 $94,440
Applied Mathematics. Bachelor's Degree 27 $67,159 $92,803
Polymer/Plastics Engineering. Bachelor's Degree 14 $75,800 $88,102
Mechanical Engineering. Bachelor's Degree 77 $73,260 $87,645
Manufacturing Engineering. Bachelor's Degree 13 $72,830 $87,431
Engineering-Related Fields. Bachelor's Degree 27 $71,117 $86,490
Computer and Information Sciences, General. Bachelor's Degree 48 $55,977 $82,853
Computer Systems Networking and Telecommunications. Bachelor's Degree 45 $66,623 $77,269
Engineering Technologies/Technicians, General. Bachelor's Degree 42 $67,461 $76,784

For full college-vs-major comparison + ROI leaderboards, see /college-outcomes →

⚖️ Compare side-by-side

University of Wisconsin-Stout vs. another college

Type the college you want to compare against. We'll show admit rates, net price by your family income, top majors with career outcomes, and merit aid — all in one side-by-side view.

Building a college list?

Use these to fit University of Wisconsin-Stout into your overall strategy:

See your admit odds → Improve your score → Find merit aid →