Northwestern College Data & Information Overview
This overview covers the essential stats on Northwestern College, including its rankings, majors, diversity, and more. All you need to do to learn more about a stat is click on its tile, and you’ll be taken to another page that analyzes that data more closely. Also, you can use the links below to scroll to any section of this page.- Rankings
- Admission and Acceptance
- Faculty
- Retention and Graduation Rates
- Diversity
- Cost
- Student Debt
- Average Earnings
- Location
- Majors
- Online Learning
- Related Schools
How Well Is Northwestern College Ranked?
2023 Rankings
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 68 badges in the 2023 rankings.
Overall Quality
NWC is ranked #409 out of 2,241 schools in the nation for overall quality on College Factual's 2023 Best Colleges list.
Out of the 40 colleges in Iowa, NWC is ranked at #6.
See all of the rankings for Northwestern College.
Is It Hard to Get Into NWC?
Acceptance Rate
Northwestern College has an acceptance rate of 74%, 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.
Average Test Scores
About 11% of students accepted to NWC submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 490 and 580. Math scores were between 520 and 630.
Learn more about Northwestern College admissions.
Northwestern College Faculty
Student to Faculty Ratio
At NWC, the student to faculty ratio is an excellent 11 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 opportunites to work closely with their professors and classmates.
Percent of Full-Time Faculty
In addition to the student to faculty ratio, some people look at what percentage of faculty members are full-time as a sign of how much time professors will be able to spend with their students. This is because part-time teachers may not be be on campus as much as their full-time counterparts.
The full-time faculty percentage at Northwestern College is 100%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.
Retention and Graduation Rates at Northwestern College
Freshmen Retention Rate
Northwestern College has a freshmen retention rate of 79%. 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.
Graduation Rate
Students are considered to have graduated on time if they finish their studies within four years. At NWC the on-time graduation rate of first-time, full-time students is 60%. That is great when compared to the national average of 33.3%
Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at Northwestern College.
Northwestern College Undergraduate Student Diversity
During the 2017-2018 academic year, there were 1,069 undergraduates at NWC with 974 being full-time and 95 being part-time.
How Much Does Northwestern College Cost?
The overall average net price of NWC is $22,410. 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.Net Price by Income Group for NWC
| $0-30 K | $30K-48K | $48-75 | $75-110K | $110K + |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $18,404 | $22,469 | $22,626 | $21,708 | $24,613 |
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 for a school. For more information on the sticker price of NWC, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.
Student Loan Debt
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 65% of students took out student loans averaging $8,173 a year. That adds up to $32,692 over four years for those students.
The student loan default rate at NWC is 1.8%. 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.
How Much Money Do NWC Graduates Make?
The pay for some majors is higher than others, but on average, students who graduate with a bachelor's degree from NWC make about $44,904 a year during their first few years of employment after graduation. That's great news for NWC students since it is 6% more than the average college graduate's salary of $42,485 per year.
See which majors at Northwestern College make the most money.
Location of Northwestern College
Northwestern College is a private not-for-profit institution situated in Orange City, Iowa. Orange City is a good match for students who enjoy small-town life.Get more details about the location of Northwestern College.
Contact details for NWC are given below.
| Contact Details | |
|---|---|
| Address: | 101 Seventh St Sw, Orange City, IA 51041 |
| Phone: | 712-707-7000 |
| Website: | https://www.nwciowa.edu/ |
| Facebook: | https://www.facebook.com/NWCIowaAlum |
| Twitter: | https://twitter.com/nwciowa |
Northwestern College Majors
During the most recent year for which we have data, students from 41 majors graduated from Northwestern College. Of these students, 283 received undergraduate degrees and 102 graduated with a master's or doctor's degree. The following table lists the most popular undergraduate majors along with the average salary graduates from those majors make.| Most Popular Majors | Bachelor’s Degrees | Average Salary of Graduates |
|---|---|---|
| Teacher Education Grade Specific | 66 | $37,017 |
| Business Administration & Management | 39 | $38,185 |
| Nursing | 28 | $59,227 |
| General Biology | 14 | $20,925 |
| Accounting | 13 | NA |
| General Psychology | 12 | NA |
| Teacher Education Subject Specific | 11 | NA |
| Health & Physical Education | 10 | $33,080 |
| Public Relations & Advertising | 9 | NA |
| Social Work | 9 | NA |
Online Learning at NWC
Online learning options are becoming more and more popular at American colleges and universities. Online classes are great for students who have busy schedules or for those who just want to study on their own time.
In 2019-2020, 688 students took at least one online class at Northwestern College. This is an increase from the 518 students who took online classes the previous year.
| Year | Took at Least One Online Class | Took All Classes Online |
|---|---|---|
| 2019-2020 | 688 | 470 |
| 2018-2019 | 518 | 425 |
| 2017-2018 | 510 | 338 |
| 2016-2017 | 435 | 223 |
| 2015-2016 | 351 | 176 |
Learn more about online learning at Northwestern College.
Find Out More About Northwestern College
Related Schools
If you’re considering Northwestern College, here are some more schools you may be interested in knowing more about.
Curious on how these schools stack up against NWC? Pit them head to head with College Combat, our free interactive tool that lets you compare college on the features that matter most to you!
Notes and References
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
- National Center for Education Statistics
- College Scorecard
- Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System
- Image Credit: By Lawrence Albert Johnston under License
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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