Central College Data & Information Overview

If you want to know more about Central College, such as what majors does it offer, how diverse it is, how well it ranks, and more, this is your one-stop resource. All you need to do to learn more about a stat is click on its tile, and you'll be taken to another page that analyzes that data more closely. Also, you can use the links below to scroll to any section of this page.

• Rankings
• Admission and Acceptance
• Faculty
• Retention and Graduation Rates
• Diversity
• Cost
• Student Debt
• Average Earnings
• Location
• Majors
• Online Learning
• Related Schools

How Well Is Central College Ranked?

2021 Rankings

College Factual analyzes over 2,000 colleges and universities in its annual rankings and ranks them in a variety of ways, including most diverse, best overall quality, best for non-traditional students, and much more.

Central College was awarded 17 badges in the 2021 rankings. The highest ranked major at the school is biological and biomedical sciences.

Overall Quality

According to College Factual's 2021 analysis, Central is ranked #265 out of 1,715 schools in the nation that were analyzed for overall quality. This is an improvement over the previous year, when Central held the #413 spot on the Best Overall Colleges list.

Out of the 31 colleges in Iowa, Central is ranked at #7.

See all of the rankings for Central College.

Is It Hard to Get Into Central?

Acceptance Rate

The acceptance rate at Central College is 70%. That's higher than the rate at many schools, but still low enough to be considered somewhat selective. If you want to get in, you'll need good grades and to be able to show that Central is a good fit for you.

Average Test Scores

About 5% of students accepted to Central submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 480 and 610. Math scores were between 470 and 610.

Central received ACT scores from 95% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT Composite scores ranged between 21 and 26.

Learn more about Central College admissions.

Central College Faculty

Student to Faculty Ratio

At Central, the student to faculty ratio is an excellent 12 to 1. That's much better than the national average of 15 to 1. This indicates that many classes will probably be small, and students will have ample opportunites to work closely with their professors and classmates.

Percent of Full-Time Faculty

Another measure that is often used to estimate how much access students will have to their professors is how many faculty members are full-time. The idea here is that part-time faculty tend to spend less time on campus, so they may not be as available to students as full-timers.

The full-time faculty percentage at Central College is 99%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.

Retention and Graduation Rates at Central College

Freshmen Retention Rate

Central College has a freshmen retention rate of 81%. That's a good sign that full-time students like the school and their professors enough to want to stick around for another year. It's also a sign that the admissions team did a good job in choosing applicants who were a good fit for the school.

Graduation Rate

The on-time graduation rate for someone pursuing a bachelor's degree is typically four years. This rate at Central for first-time, full-time students is 60%, which is better than the national average of 33.3%.

Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at Central College.

Good Overall Diversity at Central

During the 2017-2018 academic year, there were 1,237 undergraduates at Central with 1,198 being full-time and 39 being part-time.

Central Diversity Score

When calculating the overall diversity score for a school, College Factual does not just look at the percentage of women and minorities. Instead, it looks to see how good of a mixture a school has with regard to gender, ethnicity, age, and location of origin.

The overall diversity score for Central is 67.24 out of 100, meaning that is is more diverse than most schools in the country.

Get more detailed information on diversity and student demographics at Central College.

How Much Does Central College Cost?

The overall average net price of Central is $21,421. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group. See the table below for the net price for different income groups.

Net Price by Income Group for Central

$0-30 K	$30K-48K	$48-75	$75-110K	$110K +
$17,053	$18,393	$19,636	$22,587	$25,130

The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.Note that the net price is typically less than the published for a school. For more information on the sticker price of Central, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.

Student Loan Debt

Almost 66% of college students who graduated with the class of 2018 took out student loans, but that percentage varies from school to school. At Central, approximately 84% of students took out student loans averaging $7,564 a year. That adds up to $30,256 over four years for those students.

The student loan default rate at Central is 2.5%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you'll be able to pay back your student loans.

Get more details about paying for Central College.

How Much Money Do Central Graduates Make?

Although some majors pay more than others, students who graduate from Central with a bachelor's degree go on to jobs where they make an average salary of $44,700 in their early years. This is good news for future Central graduates since it is 12% more than the average college graduate's salary of $39,802 per year.

See which majors at Central College make the most money.

Location of Central College

Central College is a private not-for-profit institution located in Pella, Iowa. The location of Central is a good match for students who are interested in living in a college town while they pursue their degree.

Get more details about the location of Central College.

Contact details for Central are given below.

	Contact Details
Address:	812 University, Pella, IA 50219
Phone:	877-462-3687
Website:	www.central.edu
Facebook:	https://www.facebook.com/CentralCollege
Twitter:	https://twitter.com/centralcollege

Central College Majors

Most Popular Majors	Bachelor’s Degrees	Average Salary of Graduates
Business Administration & Management	40	$43,100
Physiology & Pathology Sciences	32	NA
Teacher Education Grade Specific	24	$38,000
General Biology	22	$29,300
General Psychology	21	NA
Romance Languages	14	NA
Computer Science	14	NA
Communication & Media Studies	12	NA
Accounting	10	NA
Sociology	8	$30,800

Learn more about the majors offered at Central College along with which ones have the highest average starting salaries.

Online Learning at Central

Online learning options are becoming more and more popular at American colleges and universities. Online classes are great for students who have busy schedules or for those who just want to study on their own time.

In 2017-2018, 56 students took at least one online class at Central College. This is an increase from the 0 students who took online classes the previous year.

Year	Took at Least One Online Class	Took All Classes Online
2017-2018	56	0
2016-2017	0	0
2015-2016	0	0
2014-2015	0	0
2013-2014	0	0

Learn more about online learning at Central College.

Related Schools

If you’re considering Central College, here are some more schools you may be interested in knowing more about.

• Canisius College
• Charleston Southern University
• Ripon College
• Saint Mary’s College of California
• Whittier College

Curious on how these schools stack up against Central? Pit them head to head with College Combat, our free interactive tool that lets you compare college on the features that matter most to you!

References

• National Center for Education Statistics
• College Scorecard
• Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System
• Image Credit: By Central College Alumni under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.