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Private College

Kenyon College

Private College in Gambier, OH. Six-year graduation rate 82%. Median 10-year earnings $71,830.

Verdict High-return
Kenyon College · Campus
Median earnings · 10 yr
$71,830
Median debt at grad
$18,527
Mobility score
0.6
% bottom→top quintile
Graduation rate
82.3%
Federal loan default
0%

Students who entered Kenyon College reach a median of $71,830 ten years later, which puts this school in the upper band of undergraduate earnings outcomes. Completion is a strength: 82% of students finish within six years. Median debt at graduation is $18,527, roughly typical for an undergraduate degree.

Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.

Green Flags
  • Debt-to-income ratio 0.26 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
  • Graduation rate 82% — well above the national average
  • 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Red Flags
  • ! Mobility score 0.6 — limited economic uplift documented

Admissions

Acceptance rate
31%
Applicants
7,726
Yield rate
18.3%

Kenyon College admits 31% of applicants and is genuinely selective — roughly two in three applicants are turned away. 7,726 students applied in the most recent cycle — a mid-sized pool drawn mostly from the surrounding region. A 18% yield rate is low: the admitted pool is much larger than the entering class. 11% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score. The bands below describe the middle half of that group, not of the class.

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 680–743 48 (11%)
SAT Math 678–760
ACT Composite 31–33 42 (10%)

IPEDS Admissions · 2024

Apply at Kenyon College →

Academics

Full-time retention
92%
Transfer-out rate
0%
Student:faculty
9:1

Six-year completion runs to 82% — students who start here overwhelmingly finish here. First-year retention of 92% shows the cohort holds together through the hardest year. A 9:1 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 population is 2,184 — big enough for a real range of programs, small enough to navigate.

Financial Aid

Average net price
$46,859
Full-time, first-time undergraduates paying the in-state rate who were awarded grant or scholarship aid
% receiving grants
81%
degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
% receiving federal loans
26%
degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,753 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates

Net price averages $46,859 annually, so cost is the first thing to weigh here. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $18,242 while those at $110k+ pay $51,432. Grant aid reaches 81% of students at an average of $41,244. Federal borrowing reaches 26% of students.

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.

% receiving grants
82%
Average grant
$40,731

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 455 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 $18,242
$30–48k $26,319
$48–75k $19,156
$75–110k $23,757
$110k+ $51,432

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24

Federal student loans went to 463 of these 1,753 students, totalling $2,772,376 — an average of $5,988 each.

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24

Local housing costs

Typical rents near campus (Knox County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.

Studio
$824/mo
1 bedroom
$862/mo
2 bedroom (whole unit)
$1,078/mo

HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026

Veterans & GI Bill

GI Bill students
7
Yellow Ribbon
Yes
Principles of Excellence
No

VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)

Compare Kenyon College with peer institutions

How we evaluate Kenyon College

IPEDS
US Department of Education
College Scorecard
Post-grad earnings
Census PSEO
Earnings by major
Opportunity Insights
Mobility by institution
Read our full methodology →