Wartburg College
Private College in Waverly, IA. Six-year graduation rate 64%. Median 10-year earnings $56,201.
Students who entered Wartburg College land at a median of $56,201 a decade later, close to what most four-year schools deliver. 64% finish within six years — respectable, though a meaningful share still leave without a credential. 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
- ! Mobility score 0.8 — limited economic uplift documented
Admissions
An acceptance rate of 76% puts Wartburg College on the accessible end — a realistic target for a broad range of applicants. The applicant pool runs to 3,203, typical for a school of this reach. A 17% yield rate is low: the admitted pool is much larger than the entering class. The score bands below rest on the 3% 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 | 470–620 | 13 (3%) |
| SAT Math | 460–580 | |
| ACT Composite | 21–27 | 98 (24%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Wartburg College →Academics
Six-year completion sits at 64%, meaning about one in three students who enroll leave without finishing. 76% of full-time first-years come back for year two, so about one in four are gone before sophomore year. A 26% transfer-out rate accounts for part of that gap: those students left for another institution rather than dropping out, and the graduation rate above counts them as non-completers here. A 13:1 ratio points to small classes and accessible faculty. This is a private nonprofit four-year college, so read every rate on this page against that peer group specifically.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,443 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price after grant aid is $24,031 a year — mid-range for a four-year institution. Net price swings hard on family income here, from $21,688 at the $0–30k band to $38,864 at $110k+. Grant aid is widespread — 94% of students receive it, averaging $40,077. Most students borrow — 68% take federal loans to cover the gap.
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 · 424 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 | $21,688 |
| $30–48k | $20,751 |
| $48–75k | $27,056 |
| $75–110k | $28,873 |
| $110k+ | $38,864 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 976 of these 1,443 students, totalling $6,346,712 — an average of $6,503 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Bremer 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)