Bethany College
Private College in Lindsborg, KS. Six-year graduation rate 36%. Median 10-year earnings $49,694.
Students who entered Bethany College land at a median of $49,694 a decade later, close to what most four-year schools deliver. The six-year graduation rate is 36% — low enough that finishing cannot be treated as the default outcome. Graduates carry a median of $23,250 in debt — in line with the national norm.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
Bethany College admits 56% of applicants and is genuinely selective — roughly two in five applicants are turned away. 1,550 applications came in, enough to make the rates below reasonably stable year to year. About 22% of admitted students enroll, a yield in the normal range.
Test score bands (middle 50% of submitters)
These bands describe the enrolled first-years who submitted a score, not the entering class. Where most students apply test-optional the submitters are a self-selected, higher-scoring group.
| Test | 25th–75th percentile | Submitted |
|---|---|---|
| SAT Evidence-Based Reading | — | — |
| SAT Math | — | |
| ACT Composite | — | — |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Bethany College →Academics
Only 36% finish within six years, so roughly two in three students leave without the credential. Just 43% of first-years come back — most of the completion gap opens in year one. A 12:1 ratio points to small classes and accessible faculty. As a private nonprofit four-year college, the relevant comparison is other four-year schools rather than the national average across all institutions. The undergraduate body is just 637, which shapes everything from class size to how often a required course is offered.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 583 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay $28,192 a year on average after aid, a premium price that the earnings data has to justify. The income table below is the number that matters — $22,561 at $0–30k versus $33,313 at $110k+. Grant aid is widespread — 100% of students receive it, averaging $25,297. Borrowing is widespread: 77% take federal loans.
Entering first-year students
A different, smaller group than the rates above: full-time students in their first year of college anywhere. The grant series here also excludes the "other sources" counted in the all-undergraduate figure, so the two are not comparable.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 174 students
Net price by family income
The same students as the headline above, limited to those who received Title IV federal aid — a narrower group, with a lower overall average. IPEDS publishes no combined figure across these bands, so they should not be averaged into one.
| Family income band | Average net price |
|---|---|
| $0–30k | $22,561 |
| $30–48k | $24,432 |
| $48–75k | $27,302 |
| $75–110k | $30,580 |
| $110k+ | $33,313 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 446 of these 583 students, totalling $2,852,637 — an average of $6,396 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (McPherson County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
Heightened Cash Monitoring (Financial Responsibility); School placed on Heightened Cash Monitoring
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)