Academic Life at Grinnell College

All About Academics

Academics are the heart of the college experience. This overview pulls together the essentials of academic life at Grinnell College: its faculty, its majors and fields of study, and its online learning options.

Use the sections below to explore each part of academic life in more detail, or follow a link to the full report on that topic:

• Faculty Resources
• Most Popular Majors
• Additional Questions to Ask
• Continue Your Research

Faculty & Class Sizes

With 9 students for every instructional faculty member, Grinnell College ranks among the best colleges for instructional attention when compared with the national average of 15 to 1. With 80% of instructors full time, Grinnell College is above the national average of 47%.

For the full breakdown — tenure status, part-time and adjunct share, and how the faculty compares with the national average — see the faculty composition page.

Majors and Fields of Study

Students at Grinnell College can choose from 27 majors with reported graduates spanning 13 broad fields of study.

The degree levels available at Grinnell College are shown below:

The most popular majors at Grinnell College, measured by graduates, are listed below.

For the complete list of majors, concentrations and graduation numbers, see the academic majors page.

Questions Worth Asking

As you weigh academic life at Grinnell College, a few more questions are worth asking:

• Need flexibility? Check whether Grinnell College offers the online or summer classes that fit your schedule. Explore online learning.
• Thinking about graduate school? Consider how many students continue their studies and how well the school retains and graduates its students (93% of full-time freshmen return for a second year). Explore graduation rates.
• Will a degree land you a job? Ask how many graduates were employed full time a year after finishing.

Continue Your Research on Grinnell College

Follow the links below for a deeper look at a specific part of academic life:

• Majors & Degree Programs at Grinnell College — the full list of majors, concentrations and graduation numbers
• Faculty & Class Sizes at Grinnell College — student-faculty ratio, full-time vs adjunct, and tenure detail
• Graduation and Retention at Grinnell College — graduation outcomes and retention detail
• Online Learning at Grinnell College — distance-learning enrollment detail
• Accreditation at Grinnell College — the schools accreditation and what it means