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Shepherd University Data & Information Overview

73 awards Ranking Badges
Fair Price Value for Your Money
96% Acceptance Rate
If you want to know more about Shepherd 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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How Well Is Shepherd University Ranked?

#1,670 Best Colleges in Nation
#11 Best Colleges in WV
Teacher Education Grade Specific Highest Ranked Major

2024 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.

Shepherd University was awarded 73 badges in the 2024 rankings. The highest ranked major at the school is teacher education grade specific.

Explore Best Ranked Schools for You

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Overall Quality

According to College Factual's 2024 analysis, Shepherd University is ranked #1,670 out of 2,217 schools in the nation that were analyzed for overall quality.

Shepherd University also holds the #11 spot on the Best Colleges in West Virginia ranking.

See all of the rankings for Shepherd University.

Is It Hard to Get Into Shepherd University?

96% Acceptance Rate
63% Of Accepted Are Women
47% Submit SAT Scores

Acceptance Rate

Because it has a high acceptance rate of 96%, some consider Shepherd University to be a safety school. But don't just assume that admittance is in the bag. Make sure to spend enough time on your application so that it is in tip-top shape.

Average Test Scores

About 47% of students accepted to Shepherd University submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 500 and 610. Math scores were between 460 and 570.

SAT Reading and Writing Scores for Shepherd University  ( 500 to 610 )
200
800

SAT Math Scores for Shepherd University  ( 460 to 570 )
200
800
Shepherd University received ACT scores from 17% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT Composite scores ranged between 19 and 26.

ACT Composite Scores for Shepherd University  ( 19 to 26 )
1
36

Learn more about Shepherd University admissions.

Shepherd University Faculty

14 to 1 Student to Faculty
63% Full Time Teachers

Student to Faculty Ratio

The student to faculty ratio is often used to estimate how much interaction there is between professors and their students at a college or university. At Shepherd University, this ratio is 14 to 1, which is on par with the national average of 15 to 1. That's not bad at all.

Percent of Full-Time Faculty

When estimating how much access students will have to their teachers, some people like to look at what percentage of faculty members are full time. This is because part-time teachers may not have as much time to spend on campus as their full-time counterparts.

The full-time faculty percentage at Shepherd University is 63%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.

Full-Time Faculty Percent  63 out of 100
0
100

Retention and Graduation Rates at Shepherd University

66% Freshmen Retention
31% On-Time Graduation Rate

Freshmen Retention Rate

The freshmen retention rate tells us what percentage of first-year, full-time students choose to continue on to their sophomore year at a particular school. The rate at Shepherd University is 66%, which is about average when compared to the national rate of 68%.

Freshmen Retention Rate  66 out of 100
0
100

Graduation Rate

The on-time graduation rate is the percent of first-time, full-time students who get their bachelor's degree with four years. At Shepherd University this rate is 31%, which is about average when compared to the national rate of 33.3%.

On-Time Graduation Rate  31 out of 100
0
100

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

Shepherd University Undergraduate Student Diversity

2,255 Full-Time Undergraduates
21.5% Racial-Ethnic Minorities*
58.4% Percent Women

During the 2017-2018 academic year, there were 2,716 undergraduates at Shepherd University with 2,255 being full-time and 461 being part-time.

How Much Does Shepherd University Cost?

$10,983 Net Price
53% Take Out Loans
$26,692 Total Student Loans
The overall average net price of Shepherd University is $10,983. 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 Shepherd University

$0-30 K $30K-48K $48-75 $75-110K $110K +
$7,787 $9,126 $11,116 $14,254 $14,684

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 Shepherd University, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.

Student Loan Debt

While almost two-thirds of students nationwide take out loans to pay for college, the percentage may be quite different for the school you plan on attending. At Shepherd University, approximately 53% of students took out student loans averaging $6,673 a year. That adds up to $26,692 over four years for those students.

The student loan default rate at Shepherd University is 6.7%. 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 Shepherd University.

How Much Money Do Shepherd University Graduates Make?

$45,723 Avg Salary of Grads
High Earnings Boost
Although some majors pay more than others, students who graduate from Shepherd University with a bachelor's degree go on to jobs where they make an average salary of $45,723 in their early years. This is good news for future Shepherd University graduates since it is 8% more than the average college graduate's salary of $42,485 per year.

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See which majors at Shepherd University make the most money.

Location of Shepherd University

West Virginia State
2,255 Full-Time Undergraduates
Town Campus Setting
Located in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, Shepherd University is a public institution. Shepherdstown is a good match for students who enjoy small-town life.

Get more details about the location of Shepherd University.

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Contact details for Shepherd University are given below.

Contact Details
Address: 301 North King St, Shepherdstown, WV 25443
Phone: 304-876-5000
Website: www.shepherd.edu/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShepherdUniversity
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ShepherdU

Shepherd University Majors

35 Majors With Completions
574 Undergraduate Degrees
53 Graduate Degrees
During the most recent year for which we have data, students from 35 majors graduated from Shepherd University. Of these students, 574 received undergraduate degrees and 53 graduated with a master's or doctor's degree. The following table lists the most popular undergraduate majors along with the average salary graduates from those majors make.

Most Popular Majors Bachelor’s Degrees Average Salary of Graduates
Liberal Arts General Studies 69 $31,498
Business Administration & Management 57 $40,026
Nursing 56 $61,704
Teacher Education Grade Specific 46 $39,615
General Biology 32 $25,225
Computer Information Systems 32 $49,620
Sociology 28 $30,461
Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies 27 $34,185
Communication & Media Studies 24 $26,309
General Psychology 22 $33,675

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

Online Learning at Shepherd University

72% Take At Least One Class Online
19% Take All Classes Online

Online courses area 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.

In 2020-2021, 2,157 students took at least one online class at Shepherd University. This is a decrease from the 2,593 students who took online classes the previous year.

Year Took at Least One Online Class Took All Classes Online
2020-2021 2,157 573
2019-2020 2,593 630
2018-2019 1,053 107
2017-2018 898 91
2016-2017 896 73

Learn more about online learning at Shepherd University.

If you’re considering Shepherd University, here are some more schools you may be interested in knowing more about.

Curious on how these schools stack up against Shepherd University? 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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