Grinnell College

Grinnell, IA · Private nonprofit · 1,729 undergrads (small, town) · website ↗

Test-optional
No application fee

What you'll actually pay

Average net price per year — tuition, fees, room & board minus grant and scholarship aid — for in-state students by household income.

Household income	Avg net price / year
Under $30,000	$9,970
$30,000 – $48,000	$7,789
$48,000 – $75,000	$9,669
$75,000 – $110,000	$19,348
Over $110,000	$37,725
All incomes (average)	$17,648

Sticker tuition and fees: $68,106 in-state — before aid, from the same earlier College Scorecard release as the net prices above.

These are averages. For an estimate for your family, use Grinnell College's own net price calculator — every college that takes federal student aid must publish one.

Net price calculator ↗

Other costs of attendance, 2025–26

The college's own estimate for a full-time undergraduate for the year, before aid, from the October 2026 College Scorecard. It is a newer year than the tuition and net prices above, so don't add the two together.

Housing and meals, on campus	$17,348
Other expenses, on campus	$1,900

Grants and loans for first-year students, 2022–23

What the college reported for its full-time, first-time students (437 of them) in 2022–23; 92% got some kind of aid, loans included. Each average is over the students who received that kind of aid, not over everyone. It is an older year than the 2025–26 costs above.

Type of aid	Students awarded	Average amount
Any grant or scholarshipFederal, state, local and the college's own	92%	$45,782
Federal Pell GrantNeed-based, from the federal government	19%	$5,583
The college's own grants and scholarshipsNeed- or merit-based, funded by the college	92%	$44,274
Federal student loansBorrowed by the student; repaid with interest. No Parent PLUS or private loans	12%	$4,949

IPEDS, U.S. Department of Education, Student Financial Aid 2022–23 (SFA2223, provisional release); full-time, first-time degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates; public domain.

Admissions & outcomes

Acceptance rate: 14%
Average SAT: 1486
Median ACT: 32
Students with Pell grants: 18%
Graduation rate (6yr): 88%
Freshman retention: 93%
Median earnings @ 10yr: $62,830
Median debt at graduation: $17,500
International undergrads: 329 (18.5%)

For comparison, the median across all 1,596 four-year colleges on this site: graduation rate 56%, earnings ten years after entering $54,869, debt at graduation $23,250.

Admission policy, test scores and teaching

SAT/ACT policy: Test-optional
Application fee: None
Students per faculty member: 9 to 1
Faculty who are full-time: 82%
Open admission: No

Middle 50% of test scores, fall 2024

25th to 75th percentile of enrolled first-year students who submitted scores. A quarter scored below the first figure and a quarter above the second. Section ranges can't be added together into a total-score range.

SAT Reading and Writing: 700–750
SAT Math: 710–790
ACT composite: 31–34

What the college considers in admission decisions, fall 2023

How the college said it used each item when deciding on first-time, degree- or certificate-seeking applicants for fall 2023. For SAT and ACT scores, see the fall 2024 policy above.

High school GPA	Considered if submitted
High school class rank	Considered if submitted
High school record	Required
Completion of a college-preparatory program	Considered if submitted
Recommendations	Considered if submitted
Formal demonstration of competencies (e.g. portfolio)	Considered if submitted
English proficiency test (for applicable students)	Required
Other test (Wonderlic, WISC-III, etc.)	Considered if submitted
Work experience	Considered if submitted
Personal statement or essay	Required
Legacy status	Considered if submitted

First-time applicants: 9,988
Admitted: 1,266
Enrolled: 457

Counts of first-time, degree- or certificate-seeking students, including early decision and early action. The acceptance rate higher up this page comes from a different College Scorecard release, so it may not match these counts.

IPEDS, U.S. Department of Education, Admissions 2023–24 (ADM2023, provisional release), fall 2023; open admission from IPEDS Institutional Characteristics 2023–24 (revised); public domain.

Most popular fields of study

Share of bachelor's degrees awarded.

Social Sciences29%

Biology & Life Sciences17%

Computer Science14%

Psychology9%

Physics & Chemistry7%

English & Literature5%

Mathematics & Statistics4%

Philosophy & Religion4%

History3%

Foreign Languages3%

Earnings and debt by field of study

Median annual earnings of graduates who received federal student aid and were working, not studying: one year after completing (graduates of 2020–21 and 2021–22) and four years after (2017–18 and 2018–19), measured in 2022 and 2023 and shown in 2024 dollars. Median debt is federal Direct and Grad PLUS loans borrowed at this college by 2022–23 and 2023–24 graduates; it leaves out Parent PLUS and private loans. “National” is the median for the same field and credential across all US colleges.

Bachelor's degrees (14)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Computer Science	64	$96,564	$109,892national $107,009	$10,000
Economics	47	$74,615	$110,724national $82,686	$11,700
Political Science and Government	42	$38,205	$68,518national $63,293	$6,325
Research and Experimental Psychology	41	$34,109	$57,752national $55,695	$6,453
Biology, General	38	$35,677	$56,275national $57,214	$7,559
Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology	29	—	$53,105national $65,466	$9,150
Mathematics	26	—	—national $69,562	$8,000
Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics	25	$41,120	$54,983national $55,000	$8,599
Sociology	24	$41,748	—national $52,657	$8,449
English Language and Literature, General	22	$32,358	$36,854national $48,590	$5,500
Ethnic, Cultural Minority, Gender, and Group Studies	18	—	—national $51,710	$7,500
History	18	$36,039	$54,703national $50,680	—
Fine and Studio Arts	11	$35,988	—national $41,367	—
Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities	—	—	$59,638national $53,072	—

A dash means the Department of Education suppressed the figure because too few graduates were measured — not zero. 16 more programmes at this college have every figure suppressed and are not listed.

Contact and accreditation

Address: 1121 Park Street, Grinnell, IA 50112-1690
Phone: (641) 269-4000
Institutional accreditor: Higher Learning Commission

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Sources: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (most recent cohorts) and IPEDS Fall Enrolment for international student counts. College Scorecard, October 2026 release: net price calculator link, mission flags and religious affiliation (2025–26), enrolment shares, test policy, SAT/ACT ranges and student-to-faculty ratio (fall 2024), cost-of-attendance components (2025–26), and earnings and debt by field of study. IPEDS Institutional Characteristics 2023–24 for the application fee and the IPEDS 2024 directory for the phone number. IPEDS Admissions 2023–24 (ADM2023, provisional release) for admission requirements and first-time applicants, admits and enrolments (fall 2023). IPEDS Student Financial Aid 2022–23 (SFA2223, provisional release) for grants and loans to full-time, first-time students. All are U.S. Department of Education data in the public domain. Verify current costs and requirements with the school.

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