Luther College
Private College in Decorah, IA. Six-year graduation rate 71%. Median 10-year earnings $59,850.
The median ten-year earnings figure of $59,850 sits near the national middle rather than at either extreme. The six-year graduation rate of 71% is well above average and the clearest sign this school holds onto its students. Graduates leave owing a median of $27,000 — a substantial load to service on these earnings.
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
- ! Mobility score 1.0 — limited economic uplift documented
Admissions
Luther College accepts 72% of applicants, which makes it accessible to most students who meet the baseline requirements. The applicant pool runs to 2,632, typical for a school of this reach. Yield is low at 20%, so most admitted students do not end up enrolling. Read the score bands below narrowly: only 9% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score, and test-optional applicants are not represented in them.
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 | 550–668 | 33 (9%) |
| SAT Math | 528–738 | |
| ACT Composite | 22–29 | 65 (17%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Luther College →Academics
A 71% six-year graduation rate is the strongest academic signal on this page. Retention of 77% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. 13% transfer out. IPEDS does not follow them, so whether they finished elsewhere is not recorded either way. The 9:1 student-faculty ratio is small enough that seminar-sized classes are the norm. Judge these figures against other institutions of the same type — sector explains more of the variation in completion than any single campus factor.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,454 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Net price lands at $24,511 a year on average, neither cheap nor punishing. Net price swings hard on family income here, from $12,517 at the $0–30k band to $29,376 at $110k+. 99% of students get grant aid averaging $37,565, so the published price is a poor guide to what most pay. Borrowing is widespread: 65% 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 · 352 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 | $12,517 |
| $30–48k | $12,835 |
| $48–75k | $19,351 |
| $75–110k | $22,204 |
| $110k+ | $29,376 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 947 of these 1,454 students, totalling $6,262,850 — an average of $6,613 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Winneshiek 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)