McDaniel College

What the IPEDS & College Scorecard Data Shows for McDaniel College

McDaniel College operates as a private nonprofit institution located in Westminster, Maryland (town: fringe), with a total reported enrollment of 1,617 students of which 1,731 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. McDaniel College is categorized as “18” 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 77.9%, drawn from the most recent IPEDS Fall enrollment survey. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $21,916, with published in-state tuition of $52,081 and a Pell grant recipient share of 36.1%. Median federal student debt at graduation is $25,000, drawn from the U.S. Treasury-matched College Scorecard file.

Outcomes reveal whether the investment pays back. The 4-year completion rate is 63.5%, and the first-year retention rate is 76.0%. Graduates earn a median of $60,663 ten years after enrolling, compared with $47,879 six years post-enrollment. Within three years of entering repayment, 69900.0% of borrowers are making progress on their federal loans, and 70.3% 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.