by our College Data Analytics TeamThis overview covers the essential stats on Ridgewater College, including its rankings, majors, diversity, and more.
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.
Ridgewater College was awarded 89 badges in the 2026 rankings.
College Factual ranked Ridgewater College as #1,050 out of 3,449 colleges and universities in the country on its 2026 Best Colleges list.
Within the state, Ridgewater College holds the #33 spot on the Best Colleges in Minnesota ranking.
At Ridgewater College, the student to faculty ratio is 19 to 1. Compared to the national average of 15 to 1, this is somewhat high. This could mean that class sizes may be larger than they are at other colleges or universities or that professors may be required to teach more classes.
Another measure that is often used to estimate how much access students will have to their professors is how many faculty members are full-time. The idea here is that part-time faculty tend to spend less time on campus, so they may not be as available to students as full-timers.
The full-time faculty percentage at Ridgewater College is 58%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.
The freshmen retention rate tells us what percentage of first-year, full-time students choose to continue on to their sophomore year at a particular school. The rate at Ridgewater College is 68%, which is about average when compared to the national rate of 68%.
Students are considered to have graduated on time if they finish their studies within four years. At Ridgewater College the on-time graduation rate of first-time, full-time students is 45%. That is great when compared to the national average of 33.3%.
Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at Ridgewater College.
The current enrollment includes 2,048 undergraduates at Ridgewater College.
Get more detailed information on the diversity at Ridgewater College.
The overall average net price of Ridgewater College is $16,772. 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 Ridgewater College
| $0-30 K | $30K-48K | $48-75 | $75-110K | $110K + |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $8,400 | $9,116 | $11,065 | $13,918 | $15,965 |
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 Ridgewater College, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.
While almost two-thirds of students nationwide take out loans to pay for college, the percentage may be quite different for the school you plan on attending. At Ridgewater College, approximately 25% of students took out student loans averaging $6,130 a year. That adds up to $24,520 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate is 11.6%. This is higher than the national default rate of 10.1% so you should proceed with caution when taking out student loans. Get more details about paying for Ridgewater College.
The pay for some majors is higher than others, but on average, students who graduate with a bachelor’s degree from Ridgewater College make about $43,827 a year during their first few years of employment after graduation. This is about 11% less than the average pay for college graduates overall. However, graduates with your major may make more.
Ridgewater College is an public institution situated in Willmar, Minnesota. Willmar is a great place for students who enjoy small town life. Get more details about the location of Ridgewater College.
Get in touch with Ridgewater College can be found below.
| Contact Details | |
|---|---|
| Address: | 2101 15th Ave NW, Willmar, MN 56201 |
| Phone: | 8007221151 |
| Website: | www.ridgewater.edu |
During the most recent year for which we have data, students from 16 majors graduated from Ridgewater 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 | 879 | NA |
| Liberal Arts General Studies | 203 | $25,109 |
| Nursing | 76 | $53,281 |
| Precision Metal Working | 48 | $42,048 |
| Agricultural Economics | 43 | $39,627 |
| Veterinary/Animal Health Technologies/Technicians. | 42 | NA |
| Allied Health Services | 40 | $29,549 |
| Electromechanical Engineering | 38 | $61,462 |
| Electrical & Power Installation | 35 | $40,824 |
| Teacher Education Grade Specific | 33 | NA |
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.
2,375 students took at least one online class at Ridgewater College.
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
More about our data sources and methodologies.