Hope College

What the IPEDS & College Scorecard Data Shows for Hope College

Hope College operates as a private nonprofit institution located in Holland, Michigan (city: small), with a total reported enrollment of 3,288 students of which 3,404 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. Hope 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 79.2%, drawn from the most recent IPEDS Fall enrollment survey, with an average SAT of 1,249 and an ACT midpoint of 28. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $27,182, with published in-state tuition of $41,970 and a Pell grant recipient share of 16.5%. Median federal student debt at graduation is $26,800, drawn from the U.S. Treasury-matched College Scorecard file.

Outcomes reveal whether the investment pays back. The 4-year completion rate is 81.1%, and the first-year retention rate is 88.4%. Graduates earn a median of $58,427 ten years after enrolling, compared with $49,727 six years post-enrollment. Within three years of entering repayment, 108300.0% of borrowers are making progress on their federal loans, and 71.6% 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.