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The University of Montana - Western Data & Information Overview

38 awards Ranking Badges
Great Price Value for Your Money
33% Acceptance Rate
Want the scoop on The University of Montana - Western? We’ve put together a comprehensive report on the school that covers what majors Montana Western offers, how the school ranks, how diverse it is, and much more.
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How Well Is The University of Montana - Western Ranked?

#721 Best Colleges in Nation
#2 Best Colleges in MT
Teacher Education Grade Specific Highest Ranked Major

2024 Rankings

College Factual recognizes the best colleges and universities in its annual rankings. These rankings include categories for best overall colleges, best colleges for each major, best value schools, and much more.

The University of Montana - Western was awarded 38 badges in the 2024 rankings. The highest ranked major at the school is teacher education grade specific.

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Overall Quality

College Factual ranked Montana Western as #721 out of 2,217 colleges and universities in the country on its 2024 Best Colleges list. This is an improvement over the previous year, when Montana Western held the #1,111 spot on the Best Overall Colleges list.

Montana Western also holds the #2 spot on the Best Colleges in Montana ranking.

See all of the rankings for The University of Montana - Western.

Is It Hard to Get Into Montana Western?

33% Acceptance Rate
62% Of Accepted Are Women

Acceptance Rate

The acceptance rate at The University of Montana - Western is a competitive 33%, so make sure you take your application seriously when putting it together. Even leaving out a minor detail could be a reason to move you to the rejection pile.

Learn more about The University of Montana - Western admissions.

The University of Montana - Western Faculty

14 to 1 Student to Faculty
66% Full Time Teachers

Student to Faculty Ratio

The student to faculty ratio at The University of Montana - Western is about average at 14 to 1. This ratio is often used to gauge how many students might be in an average class and how much time professors will have to spend with their students on an individual level. The national average for this metric is 15 to 1.

Percent of Full-Time Faculty

In addition to the student to faculty ratio, some people look at what percentage of faculty members are full-time as a sign of how much time professors will be able to spend with their students. This is because part-time teachers may not be be on campus as much as their full-time counterparts.

The full-time faculty percentage at The University of Montana - Western is 66%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.

Full-Time Faculty Percent  66 out of 100
0
100

Retention and Graduation Rates at The University of Montana - Western

73% Freshmen Retention
20% On-Time Graduation Rate

Freshmen Retention Rate

The University of Montana - Western has a freshmen retention rate of 73%. That's a good sign that full-time students like the school and their professors enough to want to stick around for another year. It's also a sign that the admissions team did a good job in choosing applicants who were a good fit for the school.

Freshmen Retention Rate  73 out of 100
0
100

Graduation Rate

The on-time graduation rate is the percent of first-time, full time students who obtain their bachelor's degree in four years or less. This rate is 20% for first-time, full-time students at Montana Western, which is lower than the national rate of 33.3%.

On-Time Graduation Rate  20 out of 100
0
100

Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at The University of Montana - Western.

The University of Montana - Western Undergraduate Student Diversity

1,060 Full-Time Undergraduates
15.5% Racial-Ethnic Minorities*
62.3% Percent Women

During the 2017-2018 academic year, there were 1,334 undergraduates at Montana Western with 1,060 being full-time and 274 being part-time.

How Much Does The University of Montana - Western Cost?

$12,240 Net Price
60% Take Out Loans
$31,696 Total Student Loans
The overall average net price of Montana Western is $12,240. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group. See the table below for the net price for different income groups.

Net Price by Income Group for Montana Western

$0-30 K $30K-48K $48-75 $75-110K $110K +
$8,596 $10,947 $12,653 $15,816 $15,925

The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.Note that the net price is typically less than the published for a school. For more information on the sticker price of Montana Western, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.

Student Loan Debt

Almost 66% of college students who graduated with the class of 2018 took out student loans, but that percentage varies from school to school. At Montana Western, approximately 60% of students took out student loans averaging $7,924 a year. That adds up to $31,696 over four years for those students.

The student loan default rate at Montana Western is 7.4%. Although this is lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, you'll still want to keep this in mind when taking out student loans.

Get more details about paying for The University of Montana - Western.

How Much Money Do Montana Western Graduates Make?

$39,755 Avg Salary of Grads
High Earnings Boost
Although some majors pay more than others, students who graduate from Montana Western with a bachelor's degree go on to jobs where they make an average salary of $39,755 in their early years. This is right on par with the average college graduate's salary of $42,485 per year. Also, graduates in your major field may make more.

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See which majors at The University of Montana - Western make the most money.

Location of The University of Montana - Western

Montana State
1,060 Full-Time Undergraduates
Town Campus Setting
Located in Dillon, Montana, The University of Montana - Western is a public institution. The charming, small-town atmosphere of Dillon draws many to the area.

Get more details about the location of The University of Montana - Western.

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Contact details for Montana Western are given below.

Contact Details
Address: 710 S Atlantic, Dillon, MT 59725-3598
Phone: 406-683-7011
Website: umwestern.edu/

The University of Montana - Western Majors

20 Majors With Completions
325 Undergraduate Degrees
Most Popular Majors Bachelor’s Degrees Average Salary of Graduates
Teacher Education Grade Specific 75 $34,421
Business Administration & Management 30 $30,379
Teacher Education Subject Specific 17 $34,928
Health & Physical Education 15 NA
Animal Services 12 NA
General Biology 7 NA
Natural Resources Conservation 7 NA
General English Literature 6 NA
Sociology & Anthropology 6 NA
Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology 6 NA

Learn more about the majors offered at The University of Montana - Western along with which ones have the highest average starting salaries.

Online Learning at Montana Western

31% Take At Least One Class Online
20% Take All Classes Online

Online learning options are becoming more and more popular at American colleges and universities. Online classes are great for students who have busy schedules or for those who just want to study on their own time.

In 2020-2021, 439 students took at least one online class at The University of Montana - Western. This is a decrease from the 983 students who took online classes the previous year.

Year Took at Least One Online Class Took All Classes Online
2020-2021 439 286
2019-2020 983 263
2018-2019 394 234
2017-2018 479 254
2016-2017 484 257

Learn more about online learning at The University of Montana - Western.

If you’re considering The University of Montana - Western, here are some more schools you may be interested in knowing more about.

Curious on how these schools stack up against Montana Western? Pit them head to head with College Combat, our free interactive tool that lets you compare college on the features that matter most to you!

Notes and References

Footnotes

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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