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Wayne State University Comprehensive Profile

77 awards Ranking Badges
Fair Price Value for Your Money
81% Acceptance Rate

If you want to know more about Wayne State University, such as what majors does it offer, how diverse it is, how well it ranks, and more, this is your one-stop resource.

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* Rankings

How Does Wayne State University Stack Up?

#857 Best Colleges in Nation
#20 Best Colleges in MI
Wayne State University ranking badge

2026 Best Colleges Rankings

In its yearly rankings, College Factual analyzes over 2,000 colleges and universities to determine which ones are the best in a variety of categories, such as overall value, quality, diversity, which schools are the best for each major, and much more.

Wayne State University was awarded 77 badges in the 2026 rankings.

National Standing

WSU is ranked #857 out of 3,449 schools in the nation for overall quality on College Factual’s 2026 Best Colleges list.

WSU is also ranked #20 on the Best Colleges in Michigan list.

See all of the rankings for Wayne State University.

What Are the Admission Requirements for Wayne State University?

81% Acceptance Rate
83% Of Accepted Are Women
40% Submit SAT Scores

Admission Selectivity

The acceptance rate at Wayne State University is 81%. That’s higher than the rate at many schools, but still low enough to be considered somewhat selective. If you want to get in, you’ll need good grades and to be able to show that WSU is a good fit for you.

SAT and ACT Scores

About 40% of students accepted to WSU submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 540 and 640. Math scores were between 520 and 630.

SAT Reading and Writing Scores for Wayne State University  ( 540 to 640 )
200
800
SAT Math Scores for Wayne State University  ( 520 to 630 )
200
800

WSU received ACT scores from 3% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT Composite scores ranged between 23 and 29.

ACT Composite Scores for Wayne State University  ( 23 to 29 )
1
36

Learn more about Wayne State University admissions.

Instructors at Wayne State University

14 to 1 Student to Faculty
58% Full Time Teachers

Student to Faculty Ratio

The student to faculty ratio at Wayne State 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.

Full-Time Faculty Share

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 Wayne State University is 58%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.

Full-Time Faculty Percent  58 out of 100
0
100

Retention and Graduation Rates at Wayne State University

82% Freshmen Retention
57% On-Time Graduation Rate

Freshman Success

The freshmen retention rate of 82% tells us that most first-year, full-time students like Wayne State 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.

Freshmen Retention Rate  82 out of 100
0
100

Time to Degree

The on-time graduation rate for someone pursuing a bachelor’s degree is typically four years. This rate at WSU for first-time, full-time students is 57%, which is better than the national average of 33.3%.

On-Time Graduation Rate  57 out of 100
0
100

Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at Wayne State University.

Student Demographics at Wayne State University

15,676 Undergraduate Students
44.7% Racial-Ethnic Minorities*
59.1% Percent Women

The current enrollment includes 15,676 undergraduates at WSU.

Get more detailed information on the diversity at Wayne State University.

Cost of Attending Wayne State University

$16,772 Net Price
38% Take Out Loans
$27,792 Total Student Loans

The overall average net price of WSU is $16,772. 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 WSU

$0-30 K $30K-48K $48-75 $75-110K $110K +
$12,337 $12,560 $14,864 $19,189 $21,543

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 WSU, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.

Student Loan Debt

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 WSU, approximately 38% of students took out student loans averaging $6,948 a year. That adds up to $27,792 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate is 9.8%. This is about the same as the national default rate of 10.1%. Get more details about paying for Wayne State University.

How Much Money Do Wayne State University Graduates Make?

$53,493 Avg Salary of Grads
High Earnings Boost

The pay for some majors is higher than others, but on average, students who graduate with a bachelor’s degree from Wayne State University make about $53,493 a year during their first few years of employment after graduation. This is right on par with the average college graduate’s salary of $49,219 per year. Also, graduates in your major field may make more.

See which majors at Wayne State University make the most money.

Location of Wayne State University

Michigan State
15,676 Undergraduate Students
Large City Campus Setting

Wayne State University is a public institution situated in Detroit, Michigan. Detroit is a great location for students who prefer city over country life. Get more details about the location of Wayne State University.

Location of Wayne State University

Contact information for Wayne State University are listed below.

Contact Details
Address: 42 W. Warren Ave., Detroit, MI 48202
Phone: 3135772424
Website: www.wayne.edu
Facebook: www.facebook.com/waynestateuniversity
Twitter: twitter.com/waynestate

Wayne State University Majors

30 Majors With Completions
13,132 Undergraduate Degrees

During the most recent year for which we have data, students from 30 majors graduated from Wayne State 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 6,566 NA
Business Administration & Management 469 $80,257
General Psychology 399 $29,184
Social Work 340 $37,744
Nursing 296 $73,687
Public Health 268 NA
Medicine 258 $55,813
Computer Information Systems 215 $73,198
Marketing 213 $43,746
Human Resource Management 191 $43,409

Learn more about the majors offered at Wayne State University along with which ones have the highest average starting salaries.

Online Learning at WSU

67% Take At Least One Class Online
7% 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.

10,497 students took at least one online class at Wayne State University.

Learn more about online learning at Wayne State University.

Similar InstitutionsWant to see how other colleges compare to WSU? Compare them side by side using College Combat, our free interactive tool that lets you compare colleges on the features that matter most to you.

Data Sources 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

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