I am not going to tell you whether this university is right for your child. No article can tell you that, because it depends on what your child wants to study, what your child has already built, and what your family can and is willing to pay. What I can give you is the first piece of that puzzle: who Creighton University is, as clearly as possible.
What kind of university it is and where it is located
Creighton University is a private, nonprofit university offering programs of four years or more. The federal system that classifies universities in this country places it among doctoral institutions with high research activity and also reports that it offers graduate programs. That does not mean the specific field your child is interested in is offered through the graduate level there: you need to verify the exact program.
It is in Omaha, Nebraska, within Douglas County, in a large city within a metropolitan area. If your child were considering living at home and commuting to campus, I recommend something simple and very practical: drive the route yourself on a weekday at the time your child would have classes. The actual travel time is almost never what the map says.
One point worth making clear now: Creighton University does not appear on the federal lists of historically Black colleges or universities, Tribal Colleges or Universities, or land-grant institutions. Of the 3,012 universities in this national directory, 138 do have at least one of those three designations. Creighton’s absence from that list says nothing about which students it serves or how your child would feel there. Ask about that directly: what cultural centers exist today, which student organizations are available, and what someone who already studies there tells you.
It is also, according to its own classification, a highly residential school: at least half of its undergraduate students live in housing owned, controlled, or affiliated with the institution. Here is some direct advice: the cost of living on campus almost never appears next to tuition in the brochure. Ask for it separately, including the meal plan, before comparing this school with any other.
The community’s actual size and who makes it up
In the most recent official count, Creighton University had 8,255 enrolled students. It is neither a small school nor an enormous one; it falls within the 5,000 to 9,999 range, and compared with the other 941 selective private four-year schools, it is on the larger side of that group.
But that large number hides something important: it is divided between 4,262 undergraduate students and 3,993 graduate students. If your child is entering a bachelor’s degree program, the number that matters is not the total of 8,255. It is 4,262.
And who are those undergraduate students? Ten out of every 100 are Hispanic or Latino—a small minority, although above the midpoint among the 941 comparable selective private schools. There are almost no adult students: only 4 out of every 100 are between 25 and 64 years old. There are more women than men: 58 out of every 100 are women. And something worth keeping in mind if your child were considering moving: fewer than 25 out of every 100 first-time students reported permanent residency in Nebraska. The great majority of students come from outside the state, or their residency is not specified in the report.
If Latinos are few on campus, that does not remove the school from the list. It does mean that, during the visit, you should ask directly what is available for Latino students: a student group, a cultural center, someone in the admissions office who speaks Spanish.
How the academic year works and what prior credit it accepts
Creighton University’s calendar is organized by semesters: two long terms of about 15 weeks each. The university reported that it accepts credit for AP exams and also what IPEDS calls credit for life experience—independent study, adult courses, work experience, portfolios, prior licenses, or military or government opportunities—as well as credit for military training. It also enrolls high school students in college courses for credit, both within and outside a formal dual-enrollment program.
Here is the hard truth behind those checked boxes: the university’s statement that it accepts AP credit does not mean it will award credit for every exam your child takes. We do not know what scores it requires or how many credits it awards, or whether those credits will count toward the specific degree your child chose. Ask for the equivalency evaluation in writing before enrolling. Do not budget for the savings until you have it in hand.
In the most recently reported academic year, Creighton awarded 1,069 bachelor’s degrees across 23 program families. But the distribution is not even: health professions accounted for 331 of those 1,069 degrees, or 31 out of every 100. It is a school with a broad range of offerings—it ranks in the highest quarter among its peers in the number of program families represented—but with a clear center of gravity in health. The presence of 23 program families in the report does not mean there are 23 active majors: verify the exact program your child is interested in.
One final fact from this academic section: the official ratio is 10 full-time-equivalent students for every full-time-equivalent instructional staff member, a low ratio compared with its peers. But be careful: this number does not tell you the actual size of a first-year class. It is an aggregate ratio, not a promise about how many students will be sitting alongside your child.
The institution also reports structured academic opportunities: study abroad, cocurricular undergraduate research, a complete program that can be taken entirely during evenings or weekends, and preparation for and state approval of teacher certification.
Getting into Creighton: what it requires and how accessible it is
Creighton University does not have open admissions. Of the nine admission considerations tracked by the federal government, it marks six as required: high school record, high school GPA, completion of the college-preparatory curriculum the university requires, a personal essay, letters of recommendation, and an English-proficiency exam for applicants to whom it applies. It is a long application, one that is put together over time, not in one night. The published undergraduate application fee is $0.
Now for the numbers that probably interest you most. In the most recently reported cycle, 7,248 students applied for first-year admission and 5,241 were offered a place. That is 72 out of every 100 applicants admitted—an accessible rate, near the middle of the group compared with the other 942 selective private schools. Your child has a real reason to apply here and also a reason to complete the entire application and submit it on time, because that number can change from one cycle to another.
But being admitted is not the same as enrolling. Out of every 100 admitted applicants, only 20 ultimately enrolled that fall. Put another way: of every five young people who receive a yes from Creighton, about one ends up attending. This is not a mark against the university—the federal record does not say why each person made that choice—and it also does not tell you what the university will offer you. What matters is this: wait for your letter showing the net price, which is the real number that determines whether this school remains on the list.
On standardized tests: the SAT and ACT are not required at Creighton. Among the students who did enroll, only 13 out of every 100 submitted an SAT score, and among them, the middle half scored between 610 and 700 in reading and writing and between 600 and 700 in mathematics. Those numbers describe the students who submitted the test, not all applicants; that 610 is not a minimum, and that 700 is not a guarantee.
On transfers: from a cohort that entered in 2017 seeking a bachelor’s degree, 15 out of every 100 transferred without completing at Creighton and enrolled at another institution. Changing schools is not failing. If it is a real possibility for your child, your child should know in advance how to request the necessary records.
The price: what the sticker says and what is actually paid
At Creighton University, among 30 first-time, full-time, credential-seeking students who received federal Title IV aid and whose EFC records showed family income below $30,000, the average net price was $21,202. Among 49 students from the same population with EFC family income from $48,001 to $75,000, it was $25,659; among 308 students with EFC family income above $110,000, it was $35,861. For dependent students, the band combines their parents’ income with their own.
There is a difference of $14,659 between the average for the lowest-income band, which included 30 students, and the average for the highest-income band, which included 308 students. These are group averages, not a prediction of your family’s price. Among first-year students who received any grant or scholarship aid, the average was $33,364.
Even after subtracting grants and scholarships, the average net price for the lowest-income families was $21,202 in the 2022-23 academic year. If that number does not fit your budget, it is better to see it today than in August.
Because the price changes so much from one income band to another, identifying yours correctly is the first step. The income bands on this profile describe first-time, full-time, credential-seeking students who received federal Title IV aid; at public institutions, they use the in-state or in-district rate. The overall average with grant or scholarship aid, when shown, describes first-time, full-time, credential-seeking students who received federal, state, local, or institutional grants or scholarships. The aid letter you receive is what governs.
Financial aid and how the cost is paid
At Creighton, 93 out of every 100 degree-seeking students received some grant or scholarship aid that does not have to be repaid. Receiving something is common here, not the exception. Among those who received it, the average was $26,750 per year—but that average includes people who received much more and people who received much less.
Here is a distinction worth understanding clearly: the Pell Grant, federal aid specifically for low-income families, reached only 5 out of every 100 students. That means at least 88 out of every 100 received aid that was not Pell but came from another source—the school, the state, or somewhere else. The report combines all that aid without saying where every dollar came from, so it cannot tell you what you would receive. Ask directly who provides that aid, who qualifies, and what is required to renew it each year.
On loans: 45 out of every 100 undergraduate students received a federal student loan, and those who borrowed took out an average of $6,420 that year. Compared with 942 selective private schools, Creighton is on the low side in the share of students with loans. Even so, if your child borrowed a similar amount each year during the four years of the degree, the total would be around $25,680, not including interest. That number is decided before the first signature, not at the end. And this average does not include Parent PLUS loans that parents sometimes sign for, or bank or credit-card debt—only a federal loan in the student’s name for a single year.
Creighton also reports that a tuition installment payment plan is available as an option for managing the cost.
Campus life, learning formats, and available support
Creighton has institutionally controlled housing, with a reported capacity of 2,281 students on or off campus, and it does not require all first-time students to live there. It offers meal plans with a fixed number of meals in the largest plan. The existence of housing does not guarantee that a bed is available; ask in writing for the rate, the application deadline, and whether a place is guaranteed or there is a waiting list.
If your child is interested in ROTC, Creighton reports opportunities in two branches: Army and Air Force. Navy is not marked. Its inclusion in the report does not mean the program is taught on this specific campus—ask about it by name before building a plan around ROTC.
In athletics, Creighton competes in and is affiliated with the NCAA, with reported membership in basketball, baseball, and cross-country or track and field, among other sports. The membership belongs to the school, not to your child: if your child is interested in playing, contact the coach directly to ask about a place on the team, the division, and athletic scholarships.
On distance education: Creighton offers it at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, but only 1 out of every 100 undergraduate students take all their classes through distance education. The overwhelming majority take at least one class in person.
The library operates with employed staff, has physical and digital materials, and participates in interlibrary lending. Reported support services include combined academic and career counseling, employment services, on-campus child care, specific support for veterans and military service members, and a services page for students with disabilities.
How many stay and how many finish
Of the cohort that entered in the fall of 2022, 92 out of every 100 were still enrolled at Creighton one year later or had already completed a bachelor’s degree—one of the highest retention rates among its 930 selective private peers. It is a high number, but it is not equivalent to a graduation rate: it combines two different groups and does not reveal what happened to the rest.
On graduation: of the cohort that entered in 2017, 80 out of every 100 had a degree in hand six years later. At four years, the figure had already reached 73 out of every 100—just 7 points below the final result. Compared with 920 selective private schools, Creighton ranks in the highest quarter.
It is worth looking at the complete breakdown of that cohort of 1,091 students: 873 completed a bachelor’s degree at Creighton, 163 transferred and continued at another institution, 3 remained enrolled without having completed, and 52 fell into the federal “no longer enrolled” category—a category that does not explain why.
A high graduation figure is not a promise for your child specifically. It is what happened to the cohort of 2017. What is within your control is making sure your child enters with all credits in order and knows, from the first semester, who the academic advisor is and when registration opens for courses in the major.
One final fact, following an older cohort, from 2015-16, for eight years: 78 out of every 100 had earned a degree or certificate from Creighton by the reporting cutoff. Among those who received a Pell Grant, the figure was 70 out of every 100—10 points below the group without Pell. If your family qualified for Pell today, that would not determine your child’s outcome, but it would be valid to ask the school directly what, specifically, is available for those students: an assigned advisor, emergency assistance, and whether the institution’s grant or scholarship aid is renewed each year.
How to use all of this
You now have a fairly complete picture of what kind of university Creighton is: private, medium-large, highly residential, with accessible admission but extensive requirements, a community where Latinos are few, a strong concentration in health professions, a high sticker price but broad financial aid, and solid graduation rates compared with its peers.
None of these numbers decides anything by itself. The list price is not your bill. The admission rate is not your child’s probability. The graduation rate for the cohort of 2017 is not a promise about your child’s cohort. Every figure here describes a group, at a particular time, under a specific definition—and your child is not an average.
What you can do with this information is concrete: complete the FAFSA, request the aid letter in writing, ask about AP credit equivalencies before enrolling, verify the exact program your child is interested in among the 23 reported families, and confirm the housing rate and availability for your child’s specific year.
You now know one of the three pieces you need to make a decision in depth: what this university actually is and offers. Combine it with what your child wants to study and has already built, and with what your family can and is willing to pay. A plan emerges from that combination, made at home.
Note on sources: the information in this article comes from official data reported by Creighton University to the U.S. Department of Education’s IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System), primarily from the 2022-23 and 2023-24 cycles. Best College Aid does not represent Creighton University or the United States government; this article organizes and explains public information.