Macalester 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
Pell and non-Pell students graduate at nearly identical rates, a notably small equity gap.
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 39 Title IV programs, 8 pass the federal Gainful Employment test and 0 fail. 31 have graduate earnings too small to publish, so they carry no pass/fail verdict.
Pass / fail distribution
- Passing8 · 20.5%
- No Data31 · 79.5%
- 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
Higher Learning Commission
Programmatic accreditations · 1
Action history · 1
- Feb 2016Renewal of AccreditationHigher Learning Commission
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, 376 students received $2.3M in Pell grants, alongside $4.9M 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 362 borrowers who entered repayment, 0 (0.0%) 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 Macalester 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 · 11
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 campus17
- Non-campus6
Includes 9 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.
Macalester College vs Peer comparison
The peer institutions Macalester 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 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SubjectMacalester College | 87% | — | 2,138 | $32,149 | Baccalaureate |
| 90% | 20.4% | 2,128 | $25,407 | Baccalaureate | |
| 77% | 61.0% | 1,906 | $22,900 | Baccalaureate | |
| 61% | 62.6% | 1,935 | $24,902 | Baccalaureate | |
| 75% | 90.6% | 1,572 | $25,672 | Baccalaureate | |
| 84% | 48.3% | 3,124 | $23,874 | Baccalaureate | |
| Peer group median | 81% | 61.0% | 2,032 | $25,155 |
Institutions like Macalester College
Explore the federal data for institutions in Macalester College's comparison group.
- BaccalaureateMinnesota
Carleton College
Grad rate90%Admit rate20.4%Enrollment2,128Net price$25,407View data - BaccalaureateMinnesota
Gustavus Adolphus College
Grad rate77%Admit rate61.0%Enrollment1,906Net price$22,900View data - BaccalaureateMinnesota
Concordia College at Moorhead
Grad rate61%Admit rate62.6%Enrollment1,935Net price$24,902View data - BaccalaureateMinnesota
Saint Johns University
Grad rate75%Admit rate90.6%Enrollment1,572Net price$25,672View data - BaccalaureateMinnesota
St Olaf College
Grad rate84%Admit rate48.3%Enrollment3,124Net price$23,874View data
Macalester College Institutional Research office
The IR team responsible for the institution's federal reporting.
The mission of the Office of Institutional Research is to collect, analyze, and interpret data that improves understanding of the qualities and characteristics of education at Macalester, supports institutional planning and decision-making, and aids in policy and program development.
Visit IR office page- Adam JohnsonDirector of Institutional Research
- Isabelle TruebloodResearch Associate, Institutional Research & Assessment
- Bethany L. MillerInstitutional Research & Assessment (ex officio)
Common Data Set
Macalester College's own annual Common Data Set: the most detailed self-reported reference for selectivity, cost, outcomes, and the student body.
Source publications
Frequently asked questions about Macalester College
Quick answers to the questions most often asked about Macalester 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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