by our College Data Analytics TeamMacalester College is a private not-for-profit institution in Saint Paul, Minnesota enrolling 2,131 undergraduates. It accepts 28% of applicants and has an on-time graduation rate of 87%, above the national average of 33%. College Factual ranks it #372 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in its 2027 Best Colleges ranking (top 7%), 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.
Macalester College ranks #372 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges ranking, placing it in the top 7%.
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.
Macalester College was awarded 109 badges in the 2027 rankings.
College Factual ranked Macalester as #372 out of 5,159 colleges and universities in the country on its 2027 Best Colleges list. This puts it in the top 10% of all schools in the nation.
Within the state, Macalester holds the #11 spot on the Best Colleges in Minnesota ranking.
See all of the rankings for Macalester College.
With an acceptance rate of 28%, Macalester 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 Macalester submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 680 and 750. Math scores were between 670 and 760.
Macalester received ACT scores from 23% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT Composite scores ranged between 30 and 34.
Learn more about Macalester College admissions.
At Macalester, the student to faculty ratio is an excellent 10 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 Macalester College is 84%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.
The freshmen retention rate of 92% tells us that most first-year, full-time students like Macalester 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.
The on-time graduation rate for someone pursuing a bachelor’s degree is typically four years. This rate at Macalester for first-time, full-time students is 87%, which is better than the national average of 33.3%.
Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at Macalester College.
During the most recent academic year, there were 2,131 undergraduates at Macalester.
Get more detailed information on the diversity at Macalester College.
The typical net cost at Macalester 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 + |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $13,772 | $11,982 | $11,098 | $20,527 | $44,880 |
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 Macalester, 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 Macalester, approximately 36% of students took out student loans averaging $6,043 a year. That adds up to $24,172 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate is 1.2%. 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 Macalester College.
Although some majors pay more than others, students who graduate from Macalester College with a bachelor’s degree go on to jobs where they make an average salary of $63,878 in their early years. That’s great news for Macalester College students since it is 30% more than the average college graduate’s salary of $49,219 per year.
See which majors at Macalester College make the most money.
Macalester College is an private not-for-profit institution situated in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The surrounding area of the school is a good match for students who enjoy city life. Get more details about the location of Macalester College.
Contact information for Macalester College can be found below.
| Contact Details | |
|---|---|
| Address: | 1600 Grand Ave, Saint Paul, MN 55105-1899 |
| Phone: | 6516966000 |
| Website: | www.macalester.edu |
| Wikipedia: | en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macalester_College |
| Facebook: | www.facebook.com/MacalesterCollege |
| Twitter: | twitter.com/macalester |
In the most recent reporting year, students from 17 majors graduated from Macalester 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 | 694 | NA |
| Economics | 57 | $47,163 |
| General Biology | 54 | $32,091 |
| Computer Information Systems | 53 | $73,129 |
| Child Development & Psychology | 53 | NA |
| Political Science & Government | 48 | $28,635 |
| Mathematics | 39 | $60,896 |
| Geography and Environmental Studies. | 31 | NA |
| Writing Studies | 28 | NA |
| Neurobiology & Neurosciences | 23 | $35,029 |
Want to see how other colleges compare to Macalester? Compare them side by side 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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