Lake Forest College

What the IPEDS & College Scorecard Data Shows for Lake Forest College

Lake Forest College operates as a private nonprofit institution located in Lake Forest, Illinois (suburb: large), with a total reported enrollment of 1,813 students of which 1,954 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. Lake Forest 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 56.8%, drawn from the most recent IPEDS Fall enrollment survey, with an average SAT of 1,343 and an ACT midpoint of 29. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $28,673, with published in-state tuition of $56,402 and a Pell grant recipient share of 32.2%. Median federal student debt at graduation is $26,158, drawn from the U.S. Treasury-matched College Scorecard file.

Outcomes reveal whether the investment pays back. The 4-year completion rate is 74.3%, and the first-year retention rate is 89.9%. Graduates earn a median of $61,825 ten years after enrolling, compared with $51,324 six years post-enrollment. Within three years of entering repayment, 62400.0% of borrowers are making progress on their federal loans, and 74.6% 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.