Strayer University Online: Cost and Outcomes (2026)
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- Strayer’s online unit is a for-profit owned by Strategic Education
- Strayer’s bachelor’s costs $1,555 a course before tuition credits (2025-26)
- Learn and Earn can make up to one in four courses tuition-free
- Undergraduate aid at Strayer starts with Pell and federal loans
- 15% of 2017-18 starters at Strayer’s Global Region earned an award within eight years
- Business degrees lead the fields at Strayer’s Global Region
- Who Strayer fits, and the watch-outs
- Check your own aid before you apply to Strayer
Strayer University charges $1,555 a course for a bachelor’s degree in 2025-26, and 15% of the students who started at its online unit in 2017-18 earned an award within eight years, according to College Scorecard’s October 15, 2026 release. A 40-course bachelor’s lists at $62,200 in tuition before Strayer’s Learn and Earn Scholarship and any transfer credit.
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Strayer, based in Washington, DC, is owned by Strategic Education, Inc. The federal figures here describe one federal school ID, 459994, named Strayer University-Global Region, where every student counted in fall 2024 took only distance education courses.
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Strayer’s online unit is a for-profit owned by Strategic Education
| Fact | Strayer University-Global Region |
|---|---|
| Control | Private for-profit |
| Owner | Strategic Education, Inc., which also owns Capella University |
| Accreditor | Middle States Commission on Higher Education, reaffirmed March 12, 2026 |
| Students enrolled only in distance education (fall 2024) | 100% |
| Degree-seeking undergraduates (fall 2024) | 9,376, 96% part-time |
| Graduate students (fall 2024) | 2,712 |
| Undergraduates 25 or older (fall 2023) | 89% |
| Admissions | Open admissions; admission rate Not published |
| Federal school ID (UNITID) | 459994 |
Strayer’s campuses in the mid-Atlantic, southern and south-central U.S. report under their own IDs, such as Strayer University-Virginia (233684) and Strayer University-Maryland (430184). College Navigator lists Strayer University-District of Columbia (131803) as this ID’s parent institution.
Strayer is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. The Commission reaffirmed its accreditation on March 12, 2026, and its next self-study evaluation is set for 2032-2033. Our guide to checking whether an online school is legit shows how to confirm this yourself.
Strategic Education’s 2025 annual report says Strayer received notice on February 1, 2024 that the Department of Education had about 1,900 borrower defense applications, filed between June 23, 2022 and November 15, 2022. The notice came before any substantive review.
Since those notices, Strayer has received about 1,870 applications and responded to them. The company says it cannot predict whether the Department will grant relief.
Strayer’s bachelor’s costs $1,555 a course before tuition credits (2025-26)
Strayer charges tuition by the course, at the same rate for full-time and part-time undergraduates. A bachelor’s is 180 quarter credits and 40 courses. These are Strayer’s 2025-26 rates for new and readmitted students; students who enrolled earlier may pay different rates.
| Program | Courses | Per course | Tuition |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor's | 40 | $1,555 | $62,200 |
| Associate | 20 | $1,555 | $31,100 |
| MBA (all states except NC and PA) | 10 | $3,045 | $30,450 |
| Jack Welch Management Institute MBA (from spring 2026) | 12 | $3,925 | $47,100 |
| MS in Information Systems, Information Assurance (Cybersecurity), HR Management or Management | 10 | $2,540 | $25,400 |
| MS in Accounting or Health Services Administration | 12 | $1,715 | $20,580 |
| Master of Public Administration | 10 | $2,040 | $20,400 |
Three business courses (BUS 102, 103 and 104) cost $1,200 each. On top of tuition, Strayer’s summer 2026 cost of attendance counts a $100 resource kit per class and a $65 technology fee per quarter.
Learn and Earn can make up to one in four courses tuition-free
The Learn and Earn Scholarship, which Strayer called the Graduation Fund until it was renamed, gives eligible bachelor’s students one tuition-free class for every three they pass. The free classes are used for the last courses of the degree, up to a maximum of 10. Ten of 40 courses is the “up to 25%” Strayer advertises, and its eligibility rules and restrictions apply.
Two rules decide what it is worth to you. Transfer credits do not earn free classes. And if you take two or more quarters in a row off, you lose every free class you have earned.
Example: these three cases use Strayer’s $1,555 rate for every course and its 2025-26 rules. Transfer credit cuts the courses you take, and if you are eligible, Learn and Earn can then take up to one in four off what is left.
| Your starting point | Courses at Strayer | Paid + tuition-free | Tuition |
|---|---|---|---|
| No transfer credit | 40 | 30 + 10 | 30 x $1,555 = $46,650 |
| 20 courses (90 credits) transferred | 20 | 15 + 5 | 15 x $1,555 = $23,325 |
| 28 courses (126 credits) transferred, the most Strayer accepts | 12 | 9 + 3 | 9 x $1,555 = $13,995 |
Strayer accepts up to 126 transfer credits into a bachelor’s, from accredited schools only, and you must complete at least 54 quarter credits at Strayer. Credit by exam (CLEP, DSST and Strayer’s own challenge exams) also counts toward the degree but not toward that 54, as our guide to earning credit by exam explains.
New or readmitted bachelor’s students who register for winter 2027 and transfer in at least 18 quarter credits may also get Strayer’s $5,000 Bachelor’s Transfer Credit Scholarship. It pays $1,000 a quarter for five quarters, if you take two or more courses each quarter.
Undergraduate aid at Strayer starts with Pell and federal loans
For 2026-27, Pell pays up to $7,395 a year to eligible undergraduates who have not earned a bachelor’s degree. In 2024-25, 52% of undergraduates at this ID had a Pell Grant and 52% had a federal loan. With a bachelor’s degree already, you can’t get Pell, apart from narrow exceptions.
Strayer’s catalog says it has voluntarily withdrawn from three state grant programs. Its students are no longer eligible for Pennsylvania’s State Grant after the summer 2026 term, or for Florida’s grant and scholarship programs and Vermont’s Incentive Grant after spring 2026.
15% of 2017-18 starters at Strayer’s Global Region earned an award within eight years
| Measure | Strayer University-Global Region |
|---|---|
| Earned an award within 8 years (all students who started in 2017-18) | 15% |
| Graduated within 150% of normal time, 6 years for a bachelor’s (first-time, full-time, fall 2019 cohort) | 10% |
| Median earnings 6 years after starting (entered 2015-16 and 2016-17) | $41,362 |
| Median earnings 10 years after starting (entered 2011-12 and 2012-13) | $44,016 |
| Graduates’ median earnings 4 years after finishing (finished 2017-18 and 2018-19) | $68,449 |
| Graduates’ median federal loan debt (entered repayment in fiscal 2024 and 2025) | $39,188 |
The 8-year rate is the one to read, because it counts part-time and transfer-in students. Strayer says it does not regularly calculate or publish job placement rates.
Business degrees lead the fields at Strayer’s Global Region
These are this ID’s largest fields in College Scorecard by awards in 2023-24 (federal CIP categories, not Strayer’s program titles). Every credential listed is offered fully online.
| Field and credential | Awards, 2023-24 | Median earnings, 4 yrs after | Median federal debt |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business administration and management (master's) | 701 | $76,080 | $58,211 |
| Business/commerce, general (bachelor's) | 493 | $64,016 | $42,374 |
| Business/commerce, general (associate) | 393 | $59,021 | $22,310 |
| Business administration and management (graduate certificate) | 133 | Not published | $69,753 |
| Computer/IT administration and management (associate) | 94 | $61,319 | $17,500 |
| Computer and information sciences, general (bachelor's) | 84 | $82,304 | $34,872 |
| Criminal justice and corrections (bachelor's) | 58 | $53,916 | $45,000 |
| Accounting and related services (bachelor's) | 40 | $66,108 | $37,594 |
Earnings are for students who finished in 2017-18 and 2018-19; debt is for those who finished in 2022-23 and 2023-24. To set these business master’s figures against other schools, see online business programs compared.
Who Strayer fits, and the watch-outs
It fits if
- You have credits to bring. With 126 transferred, 12 courses are left, and Learn and Earn can make 3 of them tuition-free if you are eligible.
- You want to keep studying part-time. The per-course rate is the same at any load, and 96% of undergraduates were part-time in fall 2024.
Watch-outs
- Only 15% of 2017-18 starters earned an award from Strayer within eight years. That is Scorecard’s rate for the students who started at this ID that year.
- A break costs you. Two or more quarters in a row off wipes out your Learn and Earn classes.
- Graduates borrow. Graduates who entered repayment in fiscal 2024 and 2025 owed a median $39,188 in federal loans.
- Some state grants are gone. Pennsylvania, Florida and Vermont residents lose those state programs at Strayer after 2026’s spring or summer term.
Check your own aid before you apply to Strayer
The aid check applies the federal rules for the year you start (2026-27 or 2027-28) to your answers. It takes about two minutes, asks for no name, email or phone, and shows Pell, a state grant and federal loans for an undergraduate, or your graduate loan limit if you hold a bachelor’s. Strayer’s financial aid office sets your actual offer.
If you live in Pennsylvania, Florida or Vermont, ignore the state grant line for Strayer: its catalog says its students lose those programs after 2026’s spring or summer term.
On the same measures, College Scorecard’s October 2026 data puts Capella University, which Strategic Education also owns, at a 32% eight-year rate for 2017-18 starters and $9,772 in graduates’ median federal debt (fiscal 2024 and 2025 repayment), and DeVry University at 28% and $17,038 for the same cohorts.
Degree Sources may refer readers to schools through partners. School matching is optional, comes after your aid result, and is not an application or admission to Strayer or any school. The figures here come from federal data and Strayer’s own pages, and this profile does not rank schools.
See your aid before you apply to Strayer
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Sources
Every figure in this guide comes from one of these pages. How we check sources
- U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard: Strayer University-Global Region (UNITID 459994)
- College Scorecard data files, October 15, 2026 release
- College Scorecard data dictionary: field definitions and cohort years
- NCES College Navigator: Strayer University-Global Region (enrollment, distance education and awards; enrollment fall 2024, age fall 2023)
- Strayer University, Tuition and fees (2025-2026 rates)
- Strayer University Catalog 2025-2026, Tuition Charges
- Strayer University, Cost of Attendance Disclosure (Summer 2026)
- Strayer University, Strayer Learn and Earn Scholarship
- Strayer University Catalog 2025-2026, Strayer Learn and Earn Scholarship (formerly the Graduation Fund)
- Strayer University, Transfer credits
- Strayer University Catalog, Graduation, Degree Conferral and Commencement (residency requirement)
- Strayer University, $5K Bachelor's Transfer Credit Scholarship (winter 2027)
- Strayer University Catalog 2025-2026, Scholarships and Other Educational Benefits Programs (state grant withdrawals)
- Strayer University, Graduation and Retention (consumer information, July 1, 2026)
- Strayer University, Campus locations
- Middle States Commission on Higher Education, Strayer University: Statement of Accreditation Status
- Strategic Education, Inc., 2025 Annual Report (Form 10-K): ownership, Learn and Earn, borrower defense notices
- Federal Student Aid, 2026-27 Federal Pell Grant maximum and minimum award amounts
- FSA Handbook 2026-27, Volume 7, Chapter 1: Pell Grant student eligibility (bachelor's degree holders)
Related Resources
Capella University Online: Cost and Outcomes (2026)
Capella's graduate tuition averaged $15,092 for 2024-25; FlexPath bills a flat fee per 12-week session. 32% of 2017-18 undergrads earned an award in 8 years.
DeVry University Online: Cost and Outcomes (2026)
DeVry charges $514 a credit for undergrad programs (Sept. 2026). 28% of 2017-18 starters earned an award in 8 years. The 2016 FTC settlement, explained.
Best Online Business Programs 2026: MBA Outcomes
Seven online MBA programs compared on AACSB or ACBSP accreditation and Scorecard outcomes. Financial managers earned a $166,570 median in May 2025.