Colby College

What the IPEDS & College Scorecard Data Shows for Colby College

Colby College operates as a private nonprofit institution located in Waterville, Maine (town: remote), with a total reported enrollment of 2,407 students of which 2,472 are undergraduates. Institution-level records in the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) classify each school by Carnegie category, ownership sector, and urban/rural locale, which is how this profile’s peer group and cost cohort are determined. Colby College is categorized as “21” under the Carnegie classification system, a meaningful signal when comparing like-to-like institutions.

Selectivity and financial signals give context to what applicants can expect. The reported admission rate is 7.1%, drawn from the most recent IPEDS Fall enrollment survey, with an average SAT of 1,501 and an ACT midpoint of 33. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $17,180, with published in-state tuition of $69,600 and a Pell grant recipient share of 14.3%. Median federal student debt at graduation is $19,157, drawn from the U.S. Treasury-matched College Scorecard file.

Outcomes reveal whether the investment pays back. The 4-year completion rate is 89.5%, and the first-year retention rate is 93.7%. Graduates earn a median of $80,490 ten years after enrolling, compared with $60,052 six years post-enrollment. Within three years of entering repayment, 31900.0% of borrowers are making progress on their federal loans, and 77.6% of graduates earn above the high-school threshold. Treating these numbers as a single snapshot alongside the cost cohort is the standard approach for evaluating ROI under the College Scorecard methodology.