Macalester College

Basic Information

Type Private, Liberal Arts
Geographical Reach National
Population 2,800,000

Weather

Comfortable Days 100 (24%) very dry
Sunshine Hours 2,710 (68%)
Days Without Precipitation 255 (62%)

Demographics

Total Undergraduates 2,109
Men / Women 43% / 57%
From State 14%
From Region 6%
Athletes 420 (20.0%)

Racial/Ethnic

White 50%
International 15%
Hispanic 11%
Mixed 9%
Asian 8%
Black 6%
Native American 0%

Schools & Majors

⇅ Ranked Trends Degrees Male White Asian Black Hispanic Intl Earnings Earn % Earn z ROI Employment Debt-to-Earn Accept SAT p25 SAT p75
Macalester College 524 44% 56% 8% 6% 11% 9% $65,367 29 -0.52 25 93%
Computer Science 39 +14 67% 49% 18% 5% 10% 8% $119,733 50 -0.15 96 88% — — — —
Data Science 6 +5 50% 33% 0% 0% 17% 50% $109,338 36 -0.08 93 — — — — —
Chemistry 21 +2 38% 57% 5% 10% 14% 10% $46,535 1 -2.42 2 — — — — —
Geology 14 +2 29% 71% 0% 0% 7% 14% $58,643 23 -0.58 11 — — — — —
Mathematics 19 +20 68% 53% 16% 0% 11% 16% $86,884 63 +0.06 74 96% — — — —
Physics 12 +1 67% 67% 0% 0% 8% 8% $86,833 66 +0.23 74 — — — — —
Biology 43 +11 21% 49% 9% 14% 12% 2% $62,956 33 -0.41 20 100% — — — —
Neuroscience 21 +2 43% 48% 10% 19% 10% 14% $79,937 92 +1.14 63 100% — — — —
Environmental Studies 19 +4 32% 42% 16% 5% 16% 11% $54,094 26 -0.57 6 96% — — — —
Economics 45 +12 56% 29% 9% 11% 13% 29% $86,581 39 -0.43 74 91% — — — —
American Studies 11 +1 9% 27% 18% 18% 18% 0% $46,656 7 -1.00 2 100% — — — —
Asian Studies 1 +2 0% 0% 0% 0% 100% 0% $52,252 31 -0.56 5 — — — — —
Chinese 2 +1 0% 0% 50% 0% 0% 0% $51,175 25 -0.61 4 — — — — —
Classics 8 +5 62% 88% 0% 0% 0% 0% $49,899 21 -0.69 3 — — — — —
Creative Writing 23 +5 22% 70% 4% 4% 9% 0% $41,830 5 -1.29 2 100% — — — —
English 3 +3 0% 67% 0% 0% 0% 0% $44,891 13 -0.92 2 — — — — —
French — — — — — — — — $51,249 25 -0.61 4 — — — — —
German 9 +4 33% 56% 0% 0% 11% 11% $51,078 25 -0.62 4 — — — — —
History 11 +1 64% 64% 0% 0% 18% 9% $50,000 22 -0.68 4 — — — — —
Independent Major 2 — 0% 50% 0% 0% 0% 0% $58,969 66 +0.16 12 — — — — —
Japanese 5 +2 60% 40% 20% 0% 20% 0% $50,558 23 -0.67 4 — — — — —
Latin American Studies 1 +6 0% 0% 0% 0% 100% 0% $52,618 33 -0.53 5 — — — — —
Linguistics 7 +4 71% 71% 0% 0% 0% 14% $51,153 25 -0.61 4 — — — — —
Philosophy 7 +2 57% 57% 0% 0% 14% 0% $56,411 39 -0.38 8 — — — — —
Religious Studies 4 +4 0% 50% 50% 0% 0% 0% $50,170 44 -0.08 4 — — — — —
Russian 1 +1 0% 100% 0% 0% 0% 0% $51,057 24 -0.62 4 — — — — —
Spanish 4 +3 25% 25% 0% 0% 75% 0% $51,418 26 -0.59 4 — — — — —
Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies — +1 — — — — — — $47,437 12 -1.08 3 — — — — —
Anthropology 7 +4 29% 71% 0% 0% 14% 0% $52,929 38 -0.36 5 — — — — —
Geography 27 +4 56% 89% 0% 4% 0% 4% $58,014 29 -0.47 10 — — — — —
International Studies 15 +8 40% 53% 0% 7% 7% 27% $59,017 14 -0.72 12 97% — — — —
Media Studies 9 +7 67% 44% 0% 11% 22% 11% $59,496 46 -0.22 13 — — — — —
Political Science 40 +8 57% 82% 2% 2% 8% 5% $58,743 13 -0.99 11 94% — — — —
Psychology 50 +3 30% 50% 12% 12% 12% 8% $54,498 19 -0.75 6 79% — — — —
Sociology 17 +3 41% 65% 0% 0% 24% 0% $53,584 43 -0.30 6 — — — — —
Art History 3 — 67% 67% 0% 0% 0% 33% $46,401 33 -0.42 2 — — — — —
Music 4 — 25% 75% 25% 0% 0% 0% $46,914 49 +0.02 3 — — — — —
Studio Art 9 +3 44% 56% 11% 0% 11% 0% $46,849 53 +0.00 3 — — — — —
Theater and Dance 5 +1 80% 80% 0% 0% 0% 0% $45,493 69 +0.33 2 — — — — —

Financial

Tuition & Fees $72,806
ROI Percentile 25th

Retention & Graduation

Full-Time Retention 92%
4-Year Graduation Rate 74%
6-Year Graduation Rate 87%
Transfer-Out Rate 8%

Earnings by Major Category

Each major category's degree-weighted estimated median 5-year earnings at this college, expressed as a z-score against the national degree-weighted distribution for that category. 0 is the national average. The shaded band between +1.28 and −1.28 marks the central 80% of the national distribution (10th–90th percentile).

Academics

⇅ % Degrees Male White Asian Black Hispanic Intl Earnings Earn % Earn z ROI Employment Debt-to-Earn
Social Sciences 31.5% 165 45% 67% 4% 6% 10% 7% $56,625 42 -0.67 9 87% —
Humanities 18.9% 99 34% 57% 7% 3% 14% 3% $48,557 14 -0.78 3 100% —
Physical Sciences & Math 12.6% 66 50% 61% 6% 3% 11% 12% $68,046 19 -0.83 32 96% —
Life & Natural Sciences 12.2% 64 28% 48% 9% 16% 11% 6% $68,528 53 +0.10 34 100% —
Business & Economics 8.6% 45 56% 29% 9% 11% 13% 29% $86,581 64 -0.43 74 91% —
Computer Science 8.6% 45 64% 47% 16% 4% 11% 13% $118,347 63 -0.14 96 88% —
Arts 4.0% 21 52% 67% 10% 0% 5% 5% $46,475 25 +0.02 2 — —
Agriculture & Food Science 3.6% 19 32% 42% 16% 5% 16% 11% $54,094 24 -0.57 6 96% —

Research

⇅ Research $ Rank Federal Industry $ PhDs Rank PhD students Postdocs
Physical Sciences & Math $0.9M #364 68% $0 — — — —
Humanities & Social Sciences $0.5M #383 0% $0 — — — —
Life & Natural Sciences $0.3M #450 24% $0 — — — —
Computer Science $0.2M #342 77% $0 — — — —
Health Sciences $0.0M #401 0% $0 — — — —
Business & Economics $0.0M #428 0% $0 — — — —
Agriculture & Food Science $0 #318 — $0 — — — —
Education $0 #457 — $0 — — — —
Engineering $0 #449 — $0 — — — —
Total $1.9M #495 44% $0 — — — —

Expenditure and funding source: NSF HERD, FY2024. Degrees: IPEDS completions, 2023–24. Students and postdocs: NSF Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates, fall 2024, which covers science, engineering and selected health fields only. An em dash means the source does not report the figure, which is not the same as zero.

Sports NCAA D3

⇅ Athletes ▼ Revenue Expenses Net
Track & Field (combined) 106 $219K $215K $3K
Football 65 $551K $561K -$10K
Baseball 39 $381K $354K $26K
Soccer 34 $254K $259K -$4K
Swimming & Diving 25 $126K $125K $1K
Basketball 15 $317K $340K -$23K
Golf 10 $90K $90K $298
Tennis 9 $59K $56K $3K
Total 227 $2.0M $2.0M -$3K
⇅ Athletes ▼ Revenue Expenses Net
Track & Field (combined) 79 $164K $160K $3K
Swimming & Diving 39 $197K $196K $1K
Soccer 32 $267K $272K -$5K
Volleyball 21 $252K $242K $9K
Softball 20 $277K $277K $231
Basketball 16 $268K $258K $9K
Water Polo 16 $183K $183K -$586
Golf 10 $90K $90K $298
Tennis 10 $65K $62K $3K
Total 193 $1.8M $1.7M $22K
⇅ Athletes ▼ Revenue Expenses Net
Track & Field (combined) 185 $383K $375K $7K
Soccer 66 $521K $531K -$9K
Football 65 $551K $561K -$10K
Swimming & Diving 64 $324K $321K $2K
Baseball 39 $381K $354K $26K
Basketball 31 $585K $599K -$13K
Volleyball 21 $252K $242K $9K
Golf 20 $180K $180K $596
Softball 20 $277K $277K $231
Tennis 19 $125K $118K $6K
Water Polo 16 $183K $183K -$586
Total 420 $6.5M $6.5M $0

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Equity in Athletics Data Analysis. Each team's revenue and expenses are what the college attributes to it. The Total view's totals row is the department's grand total, which also includes money not attributed to any team; the Male and Female totals rows only add up their teams.

Admissions

Uses Common App Yes
Acceptance Rate 28%
Yield (non-ED) 15%
Early Decision 1 Nov 1
Early Action Nov 1
Regular Decision Jan 1
Early Decision 2 Jan 15

Acceptance Rates

In-State Out-of-State International
Regular Decision 27% 27% 27%
Early Decision 42% 42% 42%

This college’s Common Data Set does not break down admissions by applicant demographics, so in-state, out-of-state, and international applicants share one Regular Decision rate.

Early Action and Restrictive Early Action applicants are reported at the regular-decision rate.

Standardized Tests

Test Policy optional
Submitted Test Scores 59%
SAT Range 1350 – 1480
SAT Math Range 650 – 750
SAT RW Range 680 – 750