Wheaton College

What the IPEDS & College Scorecard Data Shows for Wheaton College

Wheaton College operates as a private nonprofit institution located in Wheaton, Illinois (suburb: large), with a total reported enrollment of 2,121 students of which 2,373 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. Wheaton 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 87.4%, drawn from the most recent IPEDS Fall enrollment survey, with an average SAT of 1,380 and an ACT midpoint of 30. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $26,975, with published in-state tuition of $45,546 and a Pell grant recipient share of 21.7%. Median federal student debt at graduation is $23,250, drawn from the U.S. Treasury-matched College Scorecard file.

Outcomes reveal whether the investment pays back. The 4-year completion rate is 85.6%, and the first-year retention rate is 92.6%. Graduates earn a median of $63,756 ten years after enrolling, compared with $50,270 six years post-enrollment. Within three years of entering repayment, 76000.0% of borrowers are making progress on their federal loans, and 64.0% 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.