Luther College

What the IPEDS & College Scorecard Data Shows for Luther College

Luther College operates as a private nonprofit institution located in Decorah, Iowa (town: remote), with a total reported enrollment of 1,379 students of which 1,488 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. Luther 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 71.5%, drawn from the most recent IPEDS Fall enrollment survey, with an average SAT of 1,218 and an ACT midpoint of 26. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $23,097, with published in-state tuition of $52,120 and a Pell grant recipient share of 20.4%. Median federal student debt at graduation is $27,000, drawn from the U.S. Treasury-matched College Scorecard file.

Outcomes reveal whether the investment pays back. The 4-year completion rate is 73.0%, and the first-year retention rate is 77.0%. Graduates earn a median of $59,850 ten years after enrolling, compared with $49,541 six years post-enrollment. Within three years of entering repayment, 99400.0% of borrowers are making progress on their federal loans, and 70.7% 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.