Macalester College
Private College in Saint Paul, MN. Six-year graduation rate 87%. Median 10-year earnings $63,878.
Students who entered Macalester College reach a median of $63,878 ten years later, which puts this school in the upper band of undergraduate earnings outcomes. Completion is a strength: 87% of students finish within six years. Graduates carry a median of $23,000 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.
- ✓ Graduation rate 87% — well above the national average
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
Macalester College admits 29% of applicants and is genuinely selective — roughly three in four applicants are turned away. The applicant pool runs to 8,968, typical for a school of this reach. 22% of those admitted enroll, which is unremarkable in either direction. The score bands below rest on the 29% 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 | 680–750 | 162 (29%) |
| SAT Math | 670–760 | |
| ACT Composite | 30–34 | 128 (23%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Macalester College →Academics
Six-year completion runs to 87% — students who start here overwhelmingly finish here. First-year retention of 92% shows the cohort holds together through the hardest year. A 10:1 ratio points to small classes and accessible faculty. Judge these figures against other institutions of the same type — sector explains more of the variation in completion than any single campus factor. 2,142 undergraduates makes this a mid-sized institution.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 2,131 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay $40,225 a year on average after aid, a premium price that the earnings data has to justify. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $13,772 while those at $110k+ pay $44,880. Grant aid is widespread — 89% of students receive it, averaging $42,615. 36% of students take federal loans, a middling borrowing rate.
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 · 518 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 | $13,772 |
| $30–48k | $11,982 |
| $48–75k | $11,098 |
| $75–110k | $20,527 |
| $110k+ | $44,880 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 762 of these 2,131 students, totalling $4,604,469 — an average of $6,043 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Ramsey 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)