by our College Data Analytics TeamNorthwood University is a private not-for-profit institution in Midland, Michigan enrolling 1,974 undergraduates. It accepts 64% of applicants and has an on-time graduation rate of 63%, above the national average of 33%. College Factual ranks it #694 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in its 2027 Best Colleges ranking (top 13%), 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.
Northwood University ranks #694 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges ranking, placing it in the top 13%.
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.
Northwood University was awarded 40 badges in the 2027 rankings.
College Factual ranked NU as #694 out of 5,159 colleges and universities in the country on its 2027 Best Colleges list. This puts it in the top 20% of all schools in the nation.
NU is also ranked #15 on the Best Colleges in Michigan list.
See all of the rankings for Northwood University.
The acceptance rate at Northwood University is a competitive 64%, 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 Northwood University admissions.
The student to faculty ratio at Northwood University 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.
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 on campus as much as their full-time counterparts.
The full-time faculty percentage at Northwood University is 22%. This is lower than the national average of 47%.
The freshmen retention rate of 79% tells us that most first-year, full-time students like Northwood University 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 NU for first-time, full-time students is 63%, which is better than the national average of 33.3%.
Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at Northwood University.
In the current academic year, there are 1,974 undergraduates at NU.
Get more detailed information on the diversity at Northwood University.
The typical net cost at NU 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 + |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $25,700 | $25,913 | $25,906 | $26,016 | $28,224 |
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 NU, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.
It’s not uncommon for college students to take out loans to pay for school. In fact, almost 66% of students nationwide depend at least partially on loans. At NU, approximately 45% of students took out student loans averaging $10,577 a year. That adds up to $42,308 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate 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 Northwood University.
Yearly salaries vary depending on what you major in, but on average, bachelor’s degree recipients from Northwood University make around $63,075 per year during the early years of their employment. This is good news for future Northwood University graduates since it is 28% more than the average college graduate’s salary of $49,219 per year.
See which majors at Northwood University make the most money.
Northwood University is a private not-for-profit institution located in Midland, Michigan. The location of the school is great for students who enjoy the amenities of city life. Get more details about the location of Northwood University.
Contact information for Northwood University can be found below.
| Contact Details | |
|---|---|
| Address: | 4000 Whiting Dr, Midland, MI 48640-2398 |
| Phone: | 8006229000 |
| Website: | www.northwood.edu |
| Facebook: | facebook.com/northwoodu |
| Twitter: | twitter.com/northwoodu |
In the latest year of available data, students from 7 majors graduated from Northwood University. 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 | 862 | NA |
| Business Administration & Management | 385 | $53,663 |
| Management Sciences & Methods | 90 | NA |
| Accounting | 61 | $40,225 |
| Finance & Financial Management | 60 | $46,230 |
| Marketing | 55 | $42,054 |
| Specialized Sales | 43 | $53,419 |
| Business & Commerce | 27 | NA |
| Health & Physical Education | 26 | $29,440 |
| International Business | 16 | $51,033 |
1,573 students took at least one online class at Northwood University.
Online courses are a great option for busy, working students as well as for those who have scheduling conflicts and want to study on their own time. As time goes by, expect to see more and more online learning options become available.
Learn more about online learning at Northwood University.
Want to see how other colleges compare to NU? 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.