Photo: Rob Stinnett from Boonville, MO, USA · CC BY 2.0Fayette is a college town: 32 of every 100 residents are students
Central Methodist University-College of Graduate and Extended Studies (1,664 students on campus) and Central Methodist University-College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (1,017) are inside the city. Across Missouri, 6 of every 100 residents are enrolled in college.
From the U.S. Department of Education (College Scorecard, June 2026; IPEDS fall 2023 enrollment) and the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, 2020–24. Straight-line distances from the center of Fayette. Colleges are described, not graded.
What stands out about college in Fayette
Facts about the town and its distance to campus; each college’s own figures follow.
What it’s like to live in Fayette
How much the colleges shape the town, from the Census Bureau’s survey of residents.
32 of every 100 Fayette residents are in college (MO: 6).
How students change Fayette’s other numbers
Read the town’s other grades with this in mind. How TownRatings handles college towns →
Students who live off campus count in the Census poverty figures: 15.9% of Fayette residents are below the poverty line, 12.0% when college students are left out (that estimate could be off by 9 points either way). 41% of the students themselves are below the line. In college towns, the Jobs & income grade uses the rate without students and leaves unemployment out.
The Cost grade leaves out the share of renters paying 30% or more of income on rent wherever students are a quarter of residents or more (32% here): it would mostly measure student incomes.
CDC’s estimates follow each place’s age mix, and Fayette’s median age is 22.8 (Missouri 39.0), so the adult figures describe a young population.
Crime is counted per resident, and students who live here count as residents. A college with its own police department reports its incidents under that department, not the city.
Colleges within 15 miles of Fayette
Two private colleges within 0.2 miles. The nearest public four-year college, University of Missouri-Columbia, is 23.7 miles away.
Degree-granting colleges with 100 or more students on campus (fall 2023 enrollment, minus students who study only online). Admitted: share of applicants offered a place. Net price: the average a year after grants, for students on federal aid. Graduate: within 6 years (4-year colleges) or 3 (2-year). Earnings: median, 10 years after starting.
What would your family pay?
The average a year after grants, for families on federal aid, at the colleges within 15 miles and the nearest public four-year college. Pick your family’s income.
Starts at $48–75k, where Fayette’s median household income ($57,679) falls.
The average a year after grants and scholarships, for first-time, full-time students on federal aid, from the College Scorecard. Your own price depends on your aid package; every college has a net price calculator. For community colleges the net price counts housing and food at full cost, so tuition is shown beside it. “—”: not reported for that income.
Do students finish, and does it pay?
Each dot is a college: across is the share who graduate, up is what they earn ten years after starting.
Graduation: first-time, full-time students within 6 years (4-year colleges) or 3 years (2-year). Earnings: median, 10 years after starting, for students who got federal aid. *Reported for all the campuses that file together: Central Methodist University-College of Graduate and Extended Studies (2); Central Methodist University-College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (2).
What students study in Fayette
Share of bachelor’s and associate degrees by field at Central Methodist University-College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, weighted by undergraduates; then the biggest programs.
Biggest programs
College Scorecard: degree shares (PCIP; each college’s six largest fields are kept, the rest count as everything else) and the field-of-study file, median earnings 4 years after graduating. Left out: Central Methodist University-College of Graduate and Extended Studies, where most students study only online.
Questions about college in Fayette
Is Fayette a college town?
Yes. 32 of every 100 Fayette residents are enrolled in college (Census, 2020–24), against 6 across Missouri. Central Methodist University-College of Graduate and Extended Studies has 1,664 students on campus, next to 2,848 residents.
What colleges are in Fayette?
Central Methodist University-College of Graduate and Extended Studies and Central Methodist University-College of Liberal Arts and Sciences are inside the city. Moberly Area Community College is 22.4 miles away in Moberly.
Why is Fayette’s poverty rate so high?
Students who live off campus count in the Census figures. 15.9% of residents are below the poverty line; leaving college students out, 12.0% are (ACS 2020–24, give or take 9 points).
What is the closest community college to Fayette, and what does it cost?
Moberly Area Community College in Moberly, 22.4 miles away. Tuition and fees are $4,110 a year for Missouri residents; the federal net price, $6,810, counts housing and food at full cost.
How hard is it to get into Central Methodist University-College of Graduate and Extended Studies?
Central Methodist University-College of Graduate and Extended Studies admitted 88% of applicants in the Scorecard’s latest year.
Neighbors talk college
Students, parents, alumni and the neighbors next door.
Colleges: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard and IPEDS (Scorecard 06/10/2026 · IPEDS 2024 · fall 2023 enrollment). “On campus” is fall enrollment minus students who study only online. Distances are straight-line from the center of Fayette. Residents in college, age, rent and poverty (including poverty without college students, table B14006): U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–24. Colleges are described, not graded; the College town label marks towns where 15% or more of residents are enrolled. How TownRatings describes colleges →