Oberlin College

What the IPEDS & College Scorecard Data Shows for Oberlin College

Oberlin College operates as a private nonprofit institution located in Oberlin, Ohio (town: fringe), with a total reported enrollment of 2,887 students of which 4,150 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. Oberlin 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 34.2%, drawn from the most recent IPEDS Fall enrollment survey, with an average SAT of 1,447 and an ACT midpoint of 32. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $38,645, with published in-state tuition of $67,366 and a Pell grant recipient share of 9.6%. Median federal student debt at graduation is $26,000, drawn from the U.S. Treasury-matched College Scorecard file.

Outcomes reveal whether the investment pays back. The 4-year completion rate is 80.2%, and the first-year retention rate is 91.0%. Graduates earn a median of $58,343 ten years after enrolling, compared with $38,871 six years post-enrollment. Within three years of entering repayment, 73300.0% of borrowers are making progress on their federal loans, and 53.2% 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.