by our College Data Analytics TeamCentral Lakes College-Brainerd is a public institution in Brainerd, Minnesota enrolling 1,614 undergraduates. It has an on-time graduation rate of 53%, above the national average of 33%. College Factual ranks it #1,432 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in its 2027 Best Colleges ranking (top 28%), and its Value for Your Money analysis rates it a Fair Price.
Source: IPEDS 2025; College Scorecard July 2026; College Factual rankings 2027. Data as of: July 2026.
Central Lakes College-Brainerd ranks #1,432 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges ranking, placing it in the top 28%.
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 Lakes College-Brainerd was awarded 17 badges in the 2027 rankings.
Central Lakes College is ranked #1,432 out of 5,159 schools in the nation for overall quality on College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges list.
Central Lakes College is also ranked #55 on the Best Colleges in Minnesota list.
See all of the rankings for Central Lakes College-Brainerd.
Learn more about Central Lakes College-Brainerd admissions.
The student to faculty ratio at Central Lakes College-Brainerd is 20 to 1, which is high when compared to the national average of 15 to 1. This may indicate that some of your classes will be larger in size than they would be at other schools. However, upper level classes will probably be smaller.
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 Lakes College-Brainerd is 56%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.
The freshmen retention rate tells us what percentage of first-year, full-time students choose to continue on to their sophomore year at a particular school. The rate at Central Lakes College-Brainerd is 69%, which is about average when compared to the national rate of 68%.
Students are considered to have graduated on time if they finish their studies within four years. At Central Lakes College the on-time graduation rate of first-time, full-time students is 53%. That is great when compared to the national average of 33.3%.
Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at Central Lakes College-Brainerd.
In the current academic year, there are 1,614 undergraduates at Central Lakes College.
Get more detailed information on the diversity at Central Lakes College-Brainerd.
The typical net cost at Central Lakes College is $17,140. 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.
| $0-30 K | $30K-48K | $48-75 | $75-110K | $110K + |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $12,264 | $10,454 | $12,970 | $15,489 | $18,686 |
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 price for a school. For more information on the sticker price of Central Lakes College, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.
It’s not uncommon for college students to take out loans to pay for school. In fact, almost 66% of students nationwide depend at least partially on loans. At Central Lakes College, approximately 12% of students took out student loans averaging $5,915 a year. That adds up to $23,660 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate is 12.7%. This is higher than the national default rate of 10.1% so you should proceed with caution when taking out student loans. Get more details about paying for Central Lakes College-Brainerd.
The pay for some majors is higher than others, but on average, students who graduate with a bachelor’s degree from Central Lakes College-Brainerd make about $42,162 a year during their first few years of employment after graduation. This is about 14% less than the average pay for college graduates overall. However, graduates with your major may make more.
See which majors at Central Lakes College-Brainerd make the most money.
Central Lakes College-Brainerd is an public institution situated in Brainerd, Minnesota. Brainerd is a good match for students who enjoy small-town life. Get more details about the location of Central Lakes College-Brainerd.
Get in touch with Central Lakes College-Brainerd are listed below.
| Contact Details | |
|---|---|
| Address: | 501 West College Drive, Brainerd, MN 56401-3900 |
| Phone: | 2188558000 |
| Website: | WWW.CLCMN.EDU |
During the most recent year for which we have data, students from 21 majors graduated from Central Lakes College-Brainerd. The following table lists the most popular undergraduate majors along with the average salary graduates from those majors make.
| Most Popular Majors | Completions | Average Salary of Graduates |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-Disciplinary Studies | 1,004 | NA |
| Liberal Arts General Studies | 350 | $26,731 |
| Nursing | 88 | $53,757 |
| Agricultural Economics | 67 | NA |
| Ground Transportation | 55 | $51,968 |
| Vehicle Maintenance & Repair | 47 | $38,812 |
| Computer Systems Networking | 41 | NA |
| Dental Support Services | 39 | NA |
| Criminal Justice & Corrections | 33 | NA |
| Precision Metal Working | 32 | $37,179 |
1,796 students took at least one online class at Central Lakes College-Brainerd.
Online learning is becoming popular at even the oldest colleges and universities in the United States. Not only are online classes great for returning adults with busy schedules, they are also frequented by a growing number of traditional students.
Learn more about online learning at Central Lakes College-Brainerd.
Want to see how other colleges compare to Central Lakes College? Match them up using College Combat, our free interactive tool that lets you compare colleges on the features that matter most to you.
Footnotes
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.