by our College Data Analytics TeamThis overview lays out the cost of attending St Olaf College, from sticker cost of attendance and projected degree cost to net price, debt at graduation, and aid breakdowns.
If you want to dig into a particular figure, jump to any section below:
What it costs to attend St Olaf College stands at about $69,200.00 per academic year.
Here the cost is broken out three ways: no aid, average aid, and the aid a low-income student typically receives.
| Tuition and fees | $59,760.00 |
| + Room, board & other expenses | $9,440.00 |
| Total cost | $69,200.00 |
| That is 111% above the national average net price. |
| Total cost | $69,200.00 |
| − Grants and scholarships | −$47,969.00 |
| Net price | $21,231.00 |
| That is 35% below the national average net price. |
| Total cost | $69,200.00 |
| − Grants and scholarships | −$61,439.00 |
| Net price | $7,761.00 |
| That is 76% below the national average net price. | |
| Explore each piece on the tuition & fees page plus living costs. |
Published costs have climbed year over year by roughly 4.3% annually, so the projections below total more than one year of attendance. The tables below project the cost forward across a full degree, side by side for a low-income student with aid, a typical student with average aid, and a student paying full sticker price with no aid. The loan rows amortise the projected total over a ten-year, 6.8% repayment.
| Projected 4-year net costs | Low Income w/ Aid | w/ Average Aid | No Aid |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual growth rate | 4.3% | 4.3% | 4.3% |
| Freshman year | $8,095.00 | $22,144.00 | $72,176.00 |
| Senior year | $9,185.00 | $25,126.00 | $81,894.00 |
| Total 4-year net price | $34,528.00 | $94,456.00 | $307,868.00 |
| 10-year loan interest @ 6.8% | $13,154.00 | $35,984.00 | $117,286.00 |
| Total monthly payment | $397.00 | $1,087.00 | $3,543.00 |
| Total amount paid | $47,682.00 | $130,440.00 | $425,154.00 |
| Projected 2-year net costs | Low Income w/ Aid | w/ Average Aid | No Aid |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual growth rate | 4.3% | 4.3% | 4.3% |
| Freshman year | $8,095.00 | $22,144.00 | $72,176.00 |
| Senior year | $8,443.00 | $23,096.00 | $75,280.00 |
| Total 2-year net price | $16,538.00 | $45,240.00 | $147,456.00 |
| 10-year loan interest @ 6.8% | $6,300.00 | $17,235.00 | $56,175.00 |
| Total monthly payment | $190.00 | $521.00 | $1,697.00 |
| Total amount paid | $22,838.00 | $62,475.00 | $203,631.00 |
Read more in the Net Price section.
The net price figure shows the cost after grants and scholarships are deducted. For most families it is a more realistic figure than the published cost.
| Average net price (on-campus) | $23,874.00 |
| Average net price (off-campus) | $22,752.00 |
The real cost varies by income because need-based aid scales with financial need. Below, average net price is broken out by family income:
| Family income | Average net price |
|---|---|
| Under $30,000 | $9,504.00 |
| $30,000 to $48,000 | $11,927.00 |
| $48,001 to $75,000 | $15,236.00 |
| $75,001 to $110,000 | $21,245.00 |
| Over $110,000 | $32,708.00 |
For a personalized estimate, try the St Olaf College Net Price Calculator, or get in touch with the financial aid office.
Dig into how aid is awarded on the financial aid page.
Median graduate debt at St Olaf College comes to $23,250.00, placing the school in the Moderate ($20-30k) burden tier.
Here’s how debt at graduation distributes across borrowers:
| Percentile | Debt at graduation |
|---|---|
| 10th | $5,500.00 |
| 25th | $12,632.00 |
| Median (50th) | $23,250.00 |
| 75th | $27,000.00 |
| 90th | $29,000.00 |
The 10th-to-90th-percentile spread is one signal of how variable debt outcomes are across the student body.
For the full borrowing and repayment picture, see the student loan debt detail.
Debt at graduation is far from uniform across income levels. Below, debt is broken out by low, middle, and high family income:
| Family income | Median debt at graduation |
|---|---|
| Low income | $18,276.00 |
| Middle income | $21,500.00 |
| High income | $25,000.00 |
Whether your parents attended college is associated with differences in median debt at graduation.
| Student group | Median debt at graduation |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $22,497.00 |
| Continuing-generation students | $23,707.00 |
Pell Grants are the federal government’s primary need-based undergraduate aid program. Comparing Pell recipients vs non-recipients shows how debt is distributed by need.
The Pell-versus-non-Pell median debt difference at St Olaf College amounts to $-4,000.00.
The default-rate classification at St Olaf College is Low (<5%).
| Window | Cohort default rate |
|---|---|
| 2-year | 0.7% |
For context on the loan portfolio, Stafford disbursements at St Olaf College add up to $103,602,405.00 distributed across 7,076 disbursements.
Veterans and active-duty servicemembers can tap dedicated federal aid programs such as the Post-9/11 GI Bill and DoD Tuition Assistance.
| GI Bill recipients | 16 |
| Avg GI Bill amount | $21,633.00 |
Explore GI Bill and military aid in detail on the veteran aid breakdown.
Numbers only tell part of the story. As you weigh St Olaf College, a few questions are worth asking:
Use the pages below to go deeper on a specific part of the cost story:
Data sources. Figures on this page draw from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), and MediaFactual editorial review. Net-price calculator and financial-aid office links are taken from the institution’s own published data.