by our College Data Analytics TeamNorthwestern College is a private not-for-profit institution in Orange City, Iowa enrolling 1,175 undergraduates. It accepts 80% of applicants and has an on-time graduation rate of 66%, above the national average of 33%. College Factual ranks it #591 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in its 2027 Best Colleges ranking (top 11%), 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.
Northwestern College ranks #591 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges ranking, placing it in the top 11%.
College Factual recognizes the best colleges and universities in its annual rankings. These rankings include categories for best overall colleges, best colleges for each major, best value schools, and much more.
Northwestern College was awarded 41 badges in the 2027 rankings.
NWC is ranked #591 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 20% of all schools in the nation.
NWC is also ranked #9 on the Best Colleges in Iowa list.
See all of the rankings for Northwestern College.
Northwestern College has an acceptance rate of 80%, which makes it somewhat selective. Make sure it’s not the only school you apply to, even if it’s your school of choice. Whether you get in or not will largely depend on how you compare to other applicants.
Learn more about Northwestern College admissions.
The student to faculty ratio at Northwestern College is about average at 15 to 1. This ratio is often used to gauge how many students might be in an average class and how much time professors will have to spend with their students on an individual level. The national average for this metric is 15 to 1.
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 Northwestern College is 99%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.
Northwestern College has a freshmen retention rate of 74%. 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 NWC for first-time, full-time students is 66%, which is better than the national average of 33.3%.
Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at Northwestern College.
In the current academic year, there are 1,175 undergraduates at NWC.
Get more detailed information on the diversity at Northwestern College.
The average net price of NWC 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 + |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $27,059 | $19,503 | $20,572 | $24,265 | $29,539 |
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 NWC, 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 NWC, approximately 56% of students took out student loans averaging $6,056 a year. That adds up to $24,224 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate is 1.6%. 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 Northwestern College.
The pay for some majors is higher than others, but on average, students who graduate with a bachelor’s degree from Northwestern College make about $49,802 a year during their first few years of employment after graduation. This is in the same neighborhood of the average college graduate’s salary of $49,219 per year. However, certain majors may produce higher-paying graduates.
See which majors at Northwestern College make the most money.
Northwestern College is an private not-for-profit institution found in Orange City, Iowa. The surrounding location of Orange City is ideal for students who enjoy the charms of a college town. Get more details about the location of Northwestern College.
Contact details for Northwestern College are listed below.
| Contact Details | |
|---|---|
| Address: | 101 Seventh St SW, Orange City, IA 51041 |
| Phone: | 7127077000 |
| Website: | www.nwciowa.edu/ |
| Facebook: | www.facebook.com/NWCIowaAlum |
| Twitter: | twitter.com/nwciowa |
In the latest year of available data, students from 21 majors graduated from Northwestern 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 | 626 | NA |
| Educational Administration | 123 | $55,719 |
| Teacher Education Grade Specific | 103 | $41,300 |
| Special Education | 75 | NA |
| Business Administration & Management | 61 | $38,185 |
| Teacher Education Subject Specific | 47 | NA |
| Allied Health Professions | 31 | NA |
| Nursing | 27 | $59,227 |
| General Biology | 26 | $20,925 |
| Health & Physical Education | 25 | $33,080 |
388 students took at least one online class at Northwestern College.
Online courses are a great option for busy, working students as well as for those who have scheduling conflicts and want to study on their own time. As time goes by, expect to see more and more online learning options become available.
Learn more about online learning at Northwestern College.
Interested in comparing NWC? 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.
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