Warren Wilson College

What the IPEDS & College Scorecard Data Shows for Warren Wilson College

Warren Wilson College operates as a private nonprofit institution located in Swannanoa, North Carolina (rural: fringe), with a total reported enrollment of 707 students of which 793 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. Warren Wilson 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 71.3%, drawn from the most recent IPEDS Fall enrollment survey, with an average SAT of 1,350 and an ACT midpoint of 27. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $21,249, with published in-state tuition of $41,500 and a Pell grant recipient share of 39.6%. 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 42.4%, and the first-year retention rate is 70.9%. Graduates earn a median of $36,260 ten years after enrolling, compared with $27,723 six years post-enrollment. Within three years of entering repayment, 40200.0% of borrowers are making progress on their federal loans, and 31.4% 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.