Where to Start Looking to Find Montana Colleges
If you’re looking for Montana colleges, there are several sites worth visiting. The MontanaColleges.com website is sponsored by the Montana Post Secondary Educational Opportunities Council (MPSEOC). Users can create an account and have their information sent to Montana colleges. They can also generate a bar code to use at college fairs sponsored by MPSEOC.
The most useful item on the website is the Interactive Guidebook. It basically contains all the items you would expect on a comprehensive state college search website including a personality type test, timelines, checklists, considerations for selecting a college, information on college athletics, a comparison worksheet, and a financial aid overview. The website does contain profiles of participating colleges which includes scholarship information.
The SmartAboutCollege.org website is sponsored by the Montana Higher education Student Assistance Corporation (MHESAC). The website has sections targeted for each year in high school with check lists for both students and parents. Users can download spreadsheets to calculate college costs and compare financial aid packages. The site also has information on College Goal Sunday as well as links to useful college related websites.
Users can find information on Montana specific financial aid on the SmartAboutCollege website and the Montana Higher Education Student Assistance Corporation. Montana residents can use the Montana Career Information System to create portfolios, search for financial aid, and practice the SAT and ACT. Students interested in starting at a community college and transferring to a public university in Montana should visit the Montana University System.
Some Numbers to Help You Find a College
There are 10 four-year Montana colleges with 500 or more full-time undergraduates according to the Integrated Post-secondary Education Data System. Approximately 12 percent of students attend one of the four private Montana colleges while 88 percent of students attend one of the six state institutions.
The private Montana colleges have an average four-year graduation rate of 29.5% and the public universities have an average five-year graduation rate of 35.2%. One school meets the DIY College Rankings 50-50 profile requirements.
College-bound seniors in Montana had an average of 20.5 ACT Composite score with a 19.3 for English and 20.5 for Math. The 75th Percentile scores were a Composite of 25, 23 for English, and 24 for Math. Of the schools reported scores, a total of five colleges ACT 75th% Composite scores were at or above this level.
The top 20 colleges ACT test takers in Montana applied to:
- Montana State University-Bozeman
- University of Montana
- Montana State University-Billings
- Montana Tech of The Univ Of Montana
- Carroll College
- University of Montana Western
- Rocky Mountain College
- Montana State University-Northern
- University of Great Falls
- Flathead Valley Community College
- University of Washington
- Montana State Univ C Tech-Great Falls
- University of Montana-Helena C of Tech
- Gonzaga University
- University of Oregon
- Boise State University
- Miles Community College
- Arizona State University
- Montana Bible College
- Dawson Community College
Montana Colleges Conferences and Divisions
List of Montana Colleges
In the following table, the four-year graduation rate is used for private colleges and the five-year rate for public colleges. The data are based on the data available from IPEDS in December of 2014 which are available on the DIY College Search spreadsheet.
Montana Colleges with Test Scores and Graduation Rates
(download PDF version for a limited time)
| Name | Type | Full-time Under- grads | 4/5 Yr Grad Rate | % Admitted | SAT CR 75th% | SAT Math 75th% | ACT 75th% | Net Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carroll College | Private | 1349 | 54 | 53 | 620 | 610 | 26 | 23762 |
| Montana State University | Public | 11012 | 41 | 84 | 630 | 630 | 27 | 14106 |
| Montana State University-Billings | Public | 3162 | 21 | 11126 | ||||
| Montana State University-Northern | Public | 917 | 24 | 100 | 490 | 505 | 22 | 12363 |
| Montana Tech of the University of Montana | Public | 1661 | 42 | 89 | 620 | 610 | 27 | 11622 |
| Rocky Mountain College | Private | 947 | 19 | 67 | 560 | 570 | 25 | 17642 |
| Salish Kootenai College | Private | 696 | 28 | 11936 | ||||
| The University of Montana | Public | 9446 | 42 | 94 | 620 | 590 | 26 | 12217 |
| The University of Montana-Western | Public | 1196 | 41 | 9692 | ||||
| University of Great Falls | Private | 665 | 17 | 73 | 17119 |