by our College Data Analytics TeamColby College is a private not-for-profit institution in Waterville, Maine enrolling 2,407 undergraduates. It accepts 7% of applicants and has an on-time graduation rate of 89%, above the national average of 33%. College Factual ranks it #117 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in its 2027 Best Colleges ranking (top 2%), 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.
Colby College ranks #117 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges ranking, placing it in the top 2%.
In its yearly rankings, College Factual analyzes over 2,000 colleges and universities to determine which ones are the best in a variety of categories, such as overall value, quality, diversity, which schools are the best for each major, and much more.
Colby College was awarded 370 badges in the 2027 rankings.
College Factual ranked Colby as #117 out of 5,159 colleges and universities in the country on its 2027 Best Colleges list. This puts it in the top 5% of all schools in the nation.
Colby also holds the #2 spot on the Best Colleges in Maine ranking.
See all of the rankings for Colby College.
With an acceptance rate of 7%, Colby is one of the most selective schools in the country. Good grades and high test scores alone may not be enough to get you into the school, so do your best to submit a stellar application.
About 36% of students accepted to Colby submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 720 and 760. Math scores were between 740 and 790.
Colby received ACT scores from 16% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT Composite scores ranged between 32 and 34.
Learn more about Colby College admissions.
The student to faculty ratio at Colby is an impressive 9 to 1. That’s quite good when you compare it to the national average of 15 to 1. This is a good sign that students at the school will have more opportunities for one-on-one interactions with their professors.
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 Colby College is 93%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.
The freshmen retention rate of 94% tells us that most first-year, full-time students like Colby College enough to come back for another year. This is a fair bit higher than the national average of 68%. That’s certainly something to check off in the good column about the school.
Students are considered to have graduated on time if they finish their studies within four years. At Colby the on-time graduation rate of first-time, full-time students is 89%. That is great when compared to the national average of 33.3%.
Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at Colby College.
In the current academic year, there are 2,407 undergraduates at Colby.
Get more detailed information on the diversity at Colby College.
The overall average net price of Colby 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 + |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $4,049 | $1,251 | $3,666 | $12,106 | $46,511 |
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 Colby, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.
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 Colby, approximately 9% of students took out student loans averaging $6,252 a year. That adds up to $25,008 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate is 1.5%. 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 Colby College.
The pay for some majors is higher than others, but on average, students who graduate with a bachelor’s degree from Colby College make about $80,490 a year during their first few years of employment after graduation. That’s great news for Colby College students since it is 64% more than the average college graduate’s salary of $49,219 per year.
See which majors at Colby College make the most money.
Colby College is an private not-for-profit institution located in Waterville, Maine. Waterville is a good match for students who enjoy small-town life. Get more details about the location of Colby College.
Contact details for Colby College are listed below.
| Contact Details | |
|---|---|
| Address: | 4000 Mayflower Hill Drive, Waterville, ME 04901-8840 |
| Phone: | 2078594000 |
| Website: | www.colby.edu |
| Wikipedia: | en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colby_College |
| Facebook: | www.facebook.com/colbycollege |
| Twitter: | www.twitter.com/colbycollege |
In the most recent reporting year, students from 16 majors graduated from Colby College. 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 | 832 | NA |
| Economics | 126 | $58,540 |
| Political Science & Government | 61 | $43,972 |
| General Psychology | 57 | NA |
| Natural Resources Conservation | 56 | $37,156 |
| Computer Science | 47 | NA |
| General Biology | 39 | NA |
| Neurobiology & Neurosciences | 37 | NA |
| History | 35 | NA |
| Mathematics | 35 | NA |
Want to see how other colleges compare to Colby? Match them up using College Combat, our free tool for head-to-head college comparisons.
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.
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