by our College Data Analytics TeamGrinnell College is a private not-for-profit institution in Grinnell, Iowa enrolling 1,729 undergraduates. It accepts 14% of applicants and has an on-time graduation rate of 88%, above the national average of 33%. College Factual ranks it #198 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in its 2027 Best Colleges ranking (top 4%), 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.
Grinnell College ranks #198 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges ranking, placing it in the top 4%.
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.
Grinnell College was awarded 272 badges in the 2027 rankings.
Grinnell is ranked #198 out of 5,159 schools in the nation for overall quality on College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges list. This puts it in the top 5% of all schools in the nation.
Within the state, Grinnell holds the #4 spot on the Best Colleges in Iowa ranking.
See all of the rankings for Grinnell College.
With an acceptance rate of 14%, Grinnell 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 29% of students accepted to Grinnell submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 700 and 750. Math scores were between 710 and 790.
Grinnell received ACT scores from 21% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT Composite scores ranged between 31 and 34.
Learn more about Grinnell College admissions.
At Grinnell, the student to faculty ratio is an excellent 9 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 opportunities to work closely with their professors and classmates.
When estimating how much access students will have to their teachers, some people like to look at what percentage of faculty members are full time. This is because part-time teachers may not have as much time to spend on campus as their full-time counterparts.
The full-time faculty percentage at Grinnell College is 81%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.
Grinnell College has a freshmen retention rate of 93%. 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.
The on-time graduation rate for someone pursuing a bachelor’s degree is typically four years. This rate at Grinnell for first-time, full-time students is 88%, which is better than the national average of 33.3%.
Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at Grinnell College.
In the current academic year, there are 1,729 undergraduates at Grinnell.
Get more detailed information on the diversity at Grinnell College.
The typical net cost at Grinnell 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 + |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $9,970 | $7,789 | $9,669 | $19,348 | $37,725 |
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 Grinnell, 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 Grinnell, approximately 13% of students took out student loans averaging $5,438 a year. That adds up to $21,752 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate is 1.7%. 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 Grinnell College.
Although some majors pay more than others, students who graduate from Grinnell College with a bachelor’s degree go on to jobs where they make an average salary of $62,830 in their early years. That’s great news for Grinnell College students since it is 28% more than the average college graduate’s salary of $49,219 per year.
See which majors at Grinnell College make the most money.
Grinnell College is a private not-for-profit institution situated in Grinnell, Iowa. The surrounding location of Grinnell is ideal for students who enjoy the charms of a college town. Get more details about the location of Grinnell College.
Contact information for Grinnell College are listed below.
| Contact Details | |
|---|---|
| Address: | 1121 Park Street, Grinnell, IA 50112-1690 |
| Phone: | 6412694000 |
| Website: | www.grinnell.edu |
| Wikipedia: | en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grinnell_College |
| Facebook: | www.facebook.com/grinnellcollege |
| Twitter: | www.twitter.com/grinnellcollege |
During the most recent year for which we have data, students from 14 majors graduated from Grinnell 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 | 629 | NA |
| Computer Science | 75 | $70,658 |
| Economics | 63 | $56,661 |
| Sociology | 53 | $27,517 |
| Child Development & Psychology | 48 | NA |
| Mathematics | 43 | NA |
| Biochemistry & Biophysics | 42 | $26,468 |
| Political Science & Government | 41 | $31,893 |
| General Biology | 39 | $24,880 |
| Romance Languages | 36 | $23,718 |
Want to see how other colleges compare to Grinnell? Match them up using College Combat, a free interactive tool for comparing colleges on the features you care about.
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