Keene State College

Public · Moderately Selective · NH

Photo: Ken Gallager (CC BY-SA 4.0)

School data & stats

TypePublic

LocationNH · Northeast

SettingRural

Undergrads2,699

Student:faculty17:1

Outcomes

4-yr grad rate50.8%

6-yr grad rate60.1%

Drop-out rate21.3%

Study abroad—

Cost

In-state tuition$15k

Out-of-state tuition$27k

Application fee—

Community

Racial diversity16.5%

Gender diversity51.3%

International1%

Identity—

Overview

Keene State College is the public liberal arts college of the University System of New Hampshire, set in the classic New England town of Keene near Mount Monadnock in the state's southwestern corner. It offers a small, four-year liberal arts experience within a public-university budget, drawing many students from New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and northern New England who want a campus-based college experience without a large research-university scale.

Academics

The college has built genuine national reputations in a few specific fields rather than trying to be broad and prestigious across the board: teacher education, occupational and environmental health and safety, and a Holocaust and Genocide Studies program that is unusual for a school its size and draws scholars well beyond New Hampshire. Sustainability, nursing, and the arts round out other visible strengths. Class sizes stay small, and undergraduate teaching is the clear institutional priority over research output.

Campus & student life

The campus sits a short walk from downtown Keene, a compact New England town with the kind of Main Street character the region is known for, and the surrounding hills and Monadnock make outdoor recreation an easy weekend option. Most underclassmen live on campus, and the college fields a full slate of Division III athletics and outdoor-oriented clubs.

Getting in

Keene State reviews applications with an eye toward regional fit and academic readiness more than a heavily competitive, essay-driven process; demonstrated interest and a coherent academic record carry real weight for a college its size.

Worth knowing

The Holocaust and Genocide Studies program is a genuine outlier for a school this size, drawing visiting scholars and survivor-testimony events that put it on a different map than most regional public colleges. Occupational safety and health is a similarly specific, career-ready niche most students have never heard of before they look at Keene State.

keene.edu ↗

Admissions

Acceptance rate90.3%

Enrolled mid-50%1240

Test policynot used

Rec letters0

Deadlines (2026–27 cycle)

AdmissionRolling

Applying