Kansas State University

Public · Moderately Selective · KS

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School data & stats

TypePublic

LocationKS · Midwest

SettingUrban

Undergrads15,142

Student:faculty19:1

Outcomes

4-yr grad rate49.5%

6-yr grad rate71.1%

Drop-out rate14.4%

Study abroad—

Cost

In-state tuition$11k

Out-of-state tuition$29k

Application fee—

Community

Racial diversity21.2%

Gender diversity51.3%

International1.6%

Identity—

Overview

Kansas State is the state's land-grant university, set in Manhattan, a small city affectionately nicknamed the "Little Apple," amid the rolling Flint Hills of north-central Kansas. The university has a genuine reputation for a friendly, tight-knit campus culture that students and alumni consistently cite as a defining reason they chose K-State, and its identity is built around agriculture, hands-on applied science, and unusually strong school spirit for a school of its type. Purple runs through everything at K-State, from the powercat logo to Bill Snyder Family Stadium, named for the coach who rebuilt the football program from near-dissolution into a national contender.

Academics

Signature strengths include agriculture, one of the region's few standalone College of Veterinary Medicine programs, and engineering, alongside genuinely unusual offerings like a nationally known bakery science program and a grain science and industry department anchored by the International Grains Program, which trains people from around the world in grain processing and trade. K-State Polytechnic, a separate campus in Salina, adds a well-regarded professional pilot and unmanned aircraft systems program, extending K-State's aviation reach beyond the main campus. The College of Business runs a nationally recognized personal financial planning program. Across these fields, the land-grant mission of applied, industry-connected research shows up clearly in how programs are structured.

Campus & student life

Purple-clad Wildcat game days dominate fall weekends and are a genuine unifying force on campus, with Bill Snyder Family Stadium giving football real cultural weight relative to the university's size. The small-city setting fosters a close, welcoming community feel, and Greek life along with agricultural student organizations — judging teams, FarmHouse, collegiate Future Farmers chapters — are both prominent parts of student life. The Flint Hills setting also supports a real outdoors culture, if a quieter one than football weekends.

Getting in

Admission is largely formula-driven based on academic record, consistent with a land-grant mission of broad access, though specific programs — veterinary medicine especially — maintain their own separate, genuinely competitive admission standards layered on top of general university admission. Out-of-state and international students, including a large contingent tied to the grain science and veterinary programs, are a normal part of the applicant pool given K-State's national reputation in those fields.

After graduation

Graduates move heavily into agriculture, veterinary medicine, engineering, and aviation careers across the Midwest and beyond, and the university's land-grant research connections give it real, substantive standing in agricultural science nationally — not just regionally. The veterinary program in particular sends graduates into practices across a wide swath of the country, since accredited vet schools remain relatively scarce.

Worth knowing

The bakery science and grain science programs are genuinely distinctive nationally — there are very few comparable programs anywhere in the country — and the friendly, small-town campus culture is frequently cited by students as a major reason they chose K-State over larger, more anonymous flagships. K-State Polytechnic in Salina is a separate, specialized campus worth knowing about for aviation-focused students.

k-state.edu ↗

Admissions

Acceptance rate81.7%

Enrolled mid-50%SAT 1060–1260 · ACT 20–27

Test policyoptional

Rec letters0

Deadlines (2026–27 cycle)

AdmissionRolling

Applying