Grinnell College vs Berea College

Grinnell College and Berea College, both esteemed liberal arts institutions, offer unique educational experiences with distinct characteristics. Grinnell, situated in the heart of Iowa, boasts a highly selective admissions process with an acceptance rate of 18%, while Berea, nestled in the foothills of Kentucky, welcomes a more diverse student body with an acceptance rate of 54%. While Grinnell students predominantly pursue majors in the social sciences and humanities, Berea students often gravitate towards fields like education, nursing, and business. Despite these differences, both colleges share a commitment to academic excellence, fostering intellectual curiosity, and preparing students for meaningful careers and engaged citizenship. Explore our comprehensive comparison table to discover more about these institutions' acceptance rates, popular majors, student demographics, graduation rates, and other key factors, helping you make an informed decision about your higher education journey.

	Berea College	Grinnell College
Overview
Location	Berea, Kentucky	Grinnell, Iowa
Campus setting	Town: Distant	Town: Remote
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Private (Non Profit)	Private (Non Profit)
Calendar system	Semester	Semester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
Students retention rate	84.0%	93.0%
Common app member	No	Yes
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	33.0%	10.5%
Application fees
SAT range	1118 - 1268	1370 - 1530
ACT range	23 - 28	30 - 34
Students submitting SAT score	8.0%	29.0%
Students submitting ACT score	46.0%	33.0%
Total number of applicants	1,736	10,513
Total number of admissions given out	573	1,108
Admitted students who chose to enroll	338	471
Yield rate	59.0%	42.5%
Test scores (SAT/ACT)	N/A	N/A
High school GPA	Required	Not required
Recommendation letters	Not required	Required
High school transcript	Required	Not required
English proficiency test (e.g. TOEFL)	Required	Required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	$54,396	$76,098
Average net price	$3,354	$37,423
Tuition	$42,900	$58,156
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $3,886 Meal plan: $3,598	Room/dormitory: $6,779 Meal plan: $7,572
Available payment plans		Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	100.0% Average amount $52,253	100.0% Average amount $35,821
Students receiving federal student loan	4.0% Average amount $3,016	36.0% Average amount $3,952
Students taking out private loans	2.0% Average amount $758	12.0% Average amount $5,903

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	1,468 Men 40.7% Women 59.3%	1,748 Men 47.5% Women 52.5%
Graduate students	N/A	N/A
Racial/ethnic diversity	Moderate	Low
Out-of-state students	N/A	91.5%
International students	7.8%	19.4%
Campus local/setting	Town: Distant	Town: Remote
Dormitory capacity	1,653	1,450
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	Yes
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	Tennessee Alabama Georgia Ohio	California Illinois Iowa Minnesota Texas

Academics
Popular study areas	Business Social Sciences Visual & Performing Arts Biological and Biomedical Sciences Family and Consumer Sciences	Social Sciences Foreign Languages and Literatures Physical Science Visual & Performing Arts Computer and Information Science
Students to faculty ratio	9:1	9:1
Institutional accreditation	Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges	Higher Learning Commission

Outcome
Graduation rate	65.6%	86.9%
Dropout rate	13.7%	12.9%
Transferred out	19.8%	N/A
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Computer and Information Sciences, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $39,226 Year 2: $50,856 Year 3: $57,402 Engineering Technology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $24,355 Year 2: $26,353 Year 3: $42,731 Business/Commerce, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $32,950 Year 2: $33,993 Year 3: $42,254 Communication and Media Studies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $19,670 Year 2: $27,590 Year 3: $36,495 Psychology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $25,658 Year 3: $31,668 Family and Consumer Sciences/Human Sciences, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $21,939 Year 2: $19,455 Year 3: $28,681 Agriculture, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $21,131 Year 2: $18,315 Year 3: $26,792 English Language and Literature, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $18,315 Year 3: $24,639 Biology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $17,023 Year 2: $20,687 Year 3: $24,324 History (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $24,035 Year 3: N/A	Economics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $56,661 Year 2: $52,941 Year 3: $55,487 Political Science and Government (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $31,893 Year 2: $34,704 Year 3: $49,481 English Language and Literature, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $20,499 Year 2: $29,141 Year 3: $41,882 Sociology (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $27,517 Year 2: $33,993 Year 3: $40,572 Psychology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $26,353 Year 3: $37,882 Ethnic, Cultural Minority, Gender, and Group Studies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $21,508 Year 3: $37,613 Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $23,718 Year 2: $19,227 Year 3: $29,237 Fine and Studio Arts (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $20,140 Year 3: $28,680 Computer Science (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $70,658 Year 2: $91,744 Year 3: N/A Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $29,239 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A

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