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Sterling College

Sterling, KS · Private (nonprofit) · Rural

Admission figures

Acceptance rate
48.2%
SAT (middle 50%)
Not reported
ACT (middle 50%)
Not reported
Undergraduates
538
In-state tuition
$35,200
Out-of-state tuition
$35,200
Graduation rate
39%
Yield (admitted students who enrol)
32%
142 of 438 admitted students enrolled in 2023

Yield is not a quality score. It says how often admitted students pick this college over their other offers — useful for reading how it sits against its rivals, and nothing more. It is also the most gameable number in admissions: a binding Early Decision round turns admits into enrolments by contract, so colleges with large ED intakes post high yields largely by construction. Counts are IPEDS 2023, a different collection from the admission rate above, so the two may describe different years.

Sterling College doesn't report SAT or ACT ranges in the federal data. Many test-blind institutions — including the entire University of California system — genuinely have none to report. We show that as missing rather than inventing a figure.

Majors at Sterling College

11 undergraduate programs, from the federal field-of-study data. Choosing one changes your estimate — a capacity-constrained program is admitted far more competitively than the school-wide rate suggests.

Create an account to pick a program and see how it changes your estimate.

Sterling College does not publish admission rates by major — almost no US university does, and the federal data has no such field. We apply a documented field-level adjustment instead and label it as modelled, rather than inventing a per-major rate.

What it would actually cost

Average net price after grants and scholarships, by family income.

Average annual net price at Sterling College by family income band
Family incomeNet price / year
Under $30,000$19,652
$30,000 – $48,000$24,755
$48,000 – $75,000$23,570
$75,000 – $110,000$25,699
Over $110,000$29,054
On a Pell grant
33%
Median debt at graduation
$25,000
First-generation students
34%

Net price is what students actually paid after grants and scholarships — not loans. These are averages across everyone in the band, so your own offer will differ. Run the college's own net price calculator before ruling anywhere in or out.

Who studies here

Enrolled undergraduates, from federal reporting.

  • White52%
  • Hispanic or Latino17%
  • International students11%
  • Black or African American10%
  • Two or more races6%
  • Not reported2%
  • Asian1%
  • Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander1%
  • American Indian or Alaska Native0%

This is context about the campus, not an input to your estimate. Since Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard (2023), US colleges may not consider an applicant's race — so your background does not move the number, and any tool that says otherwise is describing a practice that ended in 2023. How this is calculated.

Essays for 2026–27

Always confirm against the school's own page before you write.

Sterling College is not on the Common App's member list (checked 2026-10-18), so the Common App essay does not apply here. It takes applications through its own site or another system; its own essays, below, are what count.

Sterling College supplemental essays

We don't have Sterling College's supplemental prompts on file yet. Rather than show you something that might be last year's wording, here's where to read the current ones:

Sterling College admissions site ↗

Once you find them you can start a draft from any prompt and get feedback on it.

Your chances

See your own estimate for Sterling College

Add your GPA, test scores and activities once, and we'll estimate your chances here and at every other college — with the full breakdown of what moved the number.

Figures from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard. Northstar is not affiliated with or endorsed by Sterling College. Confirm all requirements and deadlines directly with the institution.

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1,423 four-year US colleges — every Common App member that awards bachelor's degrees, and every other four-year college with 500 or more students that publishes an admission rate — taken from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard. Admission rates and SAT/ACT ranges are exactly as each institution reported them, and every college page also shows what it would cost a family at your income.

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Sterling College — Acceptance Rate & Admission Requirements · Northstar