by our College Data Analytics TeamBismarck State College is a public institution in Bismarck, North Dakota enrolling 2,839 undergraduates. It has an on-time graduation rate of 47%, above the national average of 33%. College Factual ranks it #426 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in its 2027 Best Colleges ranking (top 8%), and its Value for Your Money analysis rates it a Fair Price.
Source: IPEDS 2025; College Scorecard July 2026; College Factual rankings 2027. Data as of: July 2026.
Bismarck State College ranks #426 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges ranking, placing it in the top 8%.
College Factual analyzes over 2,000 colleges and universities in its annual rankings and ranks them in a variety of ways, including most diverse, best overall quality, best for non-traditional students, and much more.
Bismarck State College was awarded 199 badges in the 2027 rankings.
According to College Factual’s 2027 analysis, BSC is ranked #426 out of 5,159 schools in the nation that were analyzed for overall quality. This puts it in the top 10% of all schools in the nation.
Within the state, BSC holds the #3 spot on the Best Colleges in North Dakota ranking.
See all of the rankings for Bismarck State College.
Learn more about Bismarck State College admissions.
With a student to faculty ratio of 13 to 1, Bismarck State College is about average in this regard as the nationwide rate is 15 to 1. While this does not translate directly to class size, it’s a good indicator of how much time professors will have to spend with their students on a one-on-one basis.
Another measure that is often used to estimate how much access students will have to their professors is how many faculty members are full-time. The idea here is that part-time faculty tend to spend less time on campus, so they may not be as available to students as full-timers.
The full-time faculty percentage at Bismarck State College is 92%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.
The freshmen retention rate of 77% tells us that most first-year, full-time students like Bismarck State College enough to come back for another year. This is a fair bit higher than the national average of 68%. That’s certainly something to check off in the good column about the school.
The on-time graduation rate for someone pursuing a bachelor’s degree is typically four years. This rate at BSC for first-time, full-time students is 47%, which is better than the national average of 33.3%.
Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at Bismarck State College.
During the most recent academic year, there were 2,839 undergraduates at BSC.
Get more detailed information on the diversity at Bismarck State College.
The typical net cost at BSC is $17,140. 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.
| $0-30 K | $30K-48K | $48-75 | $75-110K | $110K + |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $6,140 | $5,828 | $8,524 | $12,160 | $13,979 |
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 price for a school. For more information on the sticker price of BSC, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.
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 BSC, approximately 20% of students took out student loans averaging $5,923 a year. That adds up to $23,692 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate is 4.2%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you’ll be able to pay back your student loans. Get more details about paying for Bismarck State College.
The pay for some majors is higher than others, but on average, students who graduate with a bachelor’s degree from Bismarck State College make about $54,277 a year during their first few years of employment after graduation. This is good news for future Bismarck State College graduates since it is 10% more than the average college graduate’s salary of $49,219 per year.
See which majors at Bismarck State College make the most money.
Bismarck State College is a public institution located in Bismarck, North Dakota. The surrounding area of the school is a good match for students who enjoy city life. Get more details about the location of Bismarck State College.
Contact information for Bismarck State College are listed below.
| Contact Details | |
|---|---|
| Address: | 1500 Edwards Ave., Bismarck, ND 58506-5587 |
| Phone: | 7012245400 |
| Website: | bismarckstate.edu/ |
In the most recent reporting year, students from 19 majors graduated from Bismarck State College. The following table lists the most popular undergraduate majors along with the average salary graduates from those majors make.
| Most Popular Majors | Completions | Average Salary of Graduates |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-Disciplinary Studies | 1,212 | NA |
| Liberal Arts General Studies | 367 | $30,254 |
| Computer Systems Networking | 107 | NA |
| Electronics Engineering | 95 | $81,394 |
| Romance Languages | 56 | NA |
| Electrical & Power Installation | 56 | $54,261 |
| Nursing | 48 | $54,207 |
| Business Administration & Management | 48 | $94,930 |
| Industrial Production Technology | 44 | $64,379 |
| Information Technology | 42 | NA |
2,633 students took at least one online class at Bismarck State College.
Online learning is becoming popular at even the oldest colleges and universities in the United States. Not only are online classes great for returning adults with busy schedules, they are also frequented by a growing number of traditional students.
Learn more about online learning at Bismarck State College.
Curious how schools stack up against BSC? Pit them head to head with College Combat, our free tool for head-to-head college comparisons.
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.