Central College
Admissions & acceptance rate
First-time freshman admissions: how selective the college is, and how many admitted students choose to enroll.
Graduation rate & outcomes
Completion, retention, and the equity gap between Pell and non-Pell students.
Pell equity
Non-Pell students graduate at a 11.0-point higher rate than Pell recipients.
Source: IPEDS Graduation Rates (GR) — Pell/SSL cohort, 2024 cohort.
Program outcomes
Federal Program Performance Data: how each program's graduate earnings and debt measure up under Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment.
Of 32 Title IV programs, 9 pass the federal Gainful Employment test and 0 fail. 23 have graduate earnings too small to publish, so they carry no pass/fail verdict.
Pass / fail distribution
- Passing9 · 28.1%
- No Data23 · 71.9%
- Failing0 · 0.0%
Severity spectrum
Tiers band programs by how far graduate earnings sit above or below the benchmark, from Critical (below −15%) through Safe (above +25%). No data means earnings were privacy-suppressed.
Earnings premium gap
Graduate earnings versus the federal benchmark, worst gaps first.
Debt vs earnings
Median completer debt against median graduate earnings, highest burden first.
Accreditation status & history
Who accredits the institution, current standing, and any past actions.
Higher Learning Commission
Programmatic accreditations · 1
Action history · 2
- Feb 2016Renewal of AccreditationHigher Learning Commission
- Aug 2014Change in Agency recognitionNational Association of Schools of Music, Commission on Accreditation · Music (MUS) - Institutions and units within institutions offering degree-granting and/or non-degree-granting programs
Tuition & cost
What families actually pay, broken down by family income.
Net price by family income
Negative values mean aid exceeds the published cost of attendance for that income band.
Federal aid volume & trends
Pell grants and federal Direct Loan volume disbursed to students, and how they've trended.
In AY 2024–25, 272 students received $1.6M in Pell grants, alongside $5.8M in federal Direct Loans.
Pell recipients · 5-year trend
Loan volume by type · AY 2024–25
Loan awards count each loan type a student holds, not unique borrowers; one student may carry several (e.g. subsidized and unsubsidized), so the per-type figures are the reliable detail.
Student loan default rate
The share of student borrowers who default on federal loans within three years, against the national benchmark.
Of 368 borrowers who entered repayment, 3 (0.8%) defaulted within three years — below the 2.3% national rate.
Default rate vs national, by cohort
* Cohorts 2020 and later read near 0% because the federal COVID-19 payment pause (CARES Act) suspended defaults nationwide. These years reflect a national policy, not institutional performance; the 2019 cohort is the last measured under normal repayment.
Academic programs at Central College
Top program areas ranked by completions.
Top program families by completions
Enrollment trends & demographics
Fall headcount, 12-month unduplicated enrollment, and student body composition.
Gender split
Race / ethnicity composition
Athletics & Title IX gender equity
How athletic participation, aid, and spending are split between men and women.
Men vs women · spending splits
Sport-by-sport · 13
Campus safety & crime statistics
Reported on-campus crimes over the last three years, including violence and hate crimes.
3-year trend
Criminal offenses by type
By location
- On campus6
Includes 6 in residence halls (a subset of on-campus, not added to the total).
VAWA offenses
Hate crimes by bias
No hate crimes reported.
Arrests vs disciplinary referrals
Residence-hall fires
Student-faculty ratio
Student-to-faculty ratio and instructional staff counts.
Central College vs Peer comparison
The peer institutions Central College selected for federal comparison reporting.
A larger shape on any axis means this institution outperforms its peers on that dimension. For acceptance rate and net price, lower raw values are inverted so "more selective" and "more affordable" appear larger.
| Carnegie | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SubjectCentral College | 66% | — | 1,084 | $23,377 | Baccalaureate |
| 66% | 64.0% | 1,195 | $18,745 | Baccalaureate | |
| 62% | 79.9% | 1,094 | $23,634 | Baccalaureate | |
| 71% | 71.5% | 1,384 | $23,097 | Baccalaureate | |
| 64% | 75.8% | 1,483 | $32,908 | Baccalaureate | |
| 88% | 14.5% | 1,788 | $17,648 | Baccalaureate | |
| Peer group median | 66% | 71.5% | 1,290 | $23,237 |
Institutions like Central College
Explore the federal data for institutions in Central College's comparison group.
- BaccalaureateIowa
Coe College
Grad rate66%Admit rate64.0%Enrollment1,195Net price$18,745View data - BaccalaureateIowa
Cornell College
Grad rate62%Admit rate79.9%Enrollment1,094Net price$23,634View data - BaccalaureateIowa
Luther College
Grad rate71%Admit rate71.5%Enrollment1,384Net price$23,097View data - BaccalaureateIowa
Wartburg College
Grad rate64%Admit rate75.8%Enrollment1,483Net price$32,908View data - BaccalaureateIowa
Grinnell College
Grad rate88%Admit rate14.5%Enrollment1,788Net price$17,648View data
Common Data Set
Central College's own annual Common Data Set: the most detailed self-reported reference for selectivity, cost, outcomes, and the student body.
Affordability & Value
Cost of attendance
GTotal sticker cost of attendance is $36,227 (2023-2024).
Sticker vs. net price
G+HSticker $36,227 → about $22,194 net for aided students after the average need-based grant ($14,033); 74% of demonstrated need is met.
Where grant aid comes from
H154% of need-based grant dollars come from the institution itself.
Graduate debt
H4/H577% of graduates borrowed; those who did owed $41,825 on average.
Outcomes & Equity
Graduation & retention
B6-year graduation rate 71%; first-year retention 74%.
Equity: Pell graduation gap
B4Pell-grant recipients graduate 1 pts below the overall rate (70% vs 71%).
Academic Experience
Class-size distribution
I358% of classes have under 20 students; 0% have 50+.
Faculty profile
IKey faculty indicators.
Degrees by discipline
JSTEM-dominant: ~31% of bachelor's degrees are in computing, engineering, math & sciences.
Student Body & Diversity
Undergraduate race/ethnicity
B2Undergraduate enrollment by race/ethnicity.
International students
B20% of undergraduates are international (nonresident).
Transfer Path
Transfer admissions
D1140 transfer applicants → 66 admitted (47.1%) → 38 enrolled
Source publications
Frequently asked questions about Central College
Quick answers to the questions most often asked about Central College.
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About the data on this page
Every figure comes from an official federal or public source. Here is each one and the release it is currently on.
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