Knox College
Private College in Galesburg, IL. Six-year graduation rate 68%. Median 10-year earnings $54,820.
Ten years after entry, the median Knox College student earns $54,820 — a solidly middle-of-the-pack result for an undergraduate institution. The six-year graduation rate of 68% is well above average and the clearest sign this school holds onto its students. Median debt at graduation reaches $27,000, heavy enough to shape the years right after the degree.
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
71% of applicants get in, so the odds favor most reasonably prepared students. The applicant pool runs to 4,899, typical for a school of this reach. A 12% yield rate is low: the admitted pool is much larger than the entering class. The score bands below rest on the 27% of enrolled first-years who submitted an SAT score — a self-selected group, and not a cutoff.
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 | 600–680 | 109 (27%) |
| SAT Math | 580–760 | |
| ACT Composite | 21–32 | 26 (7%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Knox College →Academics
68% of students finish within six years, putting completion well above the national norm. First-year retention of 83% shows the cohort holds together through the hardest year. Retention and completion are close, which places the gap between entering and finishing almost entirely in year one. Transfer-out runs to 16% — common enough at this school that the completion rate is measuring a smaller group than the entering class. At 11:1, students get materially more instructor contact than at a typical public university.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 997 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Net price lands at $25,709 a year on average, neither cheap nor punishing. The income table below is the number that matters — $17,134 at $0–30k versus $31,983 at $110k+. 100% of students get grant aid averaging $45,542, so the published price is a poor guide to what most pay. Borrowing is widespread: 68% 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 · 249 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 | $17,134 |
| $30–48k | $17,363 |
| $48–75k | $23,844 |
| $75–110k | $25,402 |
| $110k+ | $31,983 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 674 of these 997 students, totalling $4,399,272 — an average of $6,527 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.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)