Acceptance Rate
48%
Avg. SAT
1470
75th percentile
“St. Olaf College fuses Norwegian choral legacy with rigorous liberal arts in a snowy Northfield enclave where earnest musicians and scientists harmonize.”
Northfield, MN
Location
Town
Campus Setting
St. Olaf sprang from 1874 Norwegian immigrant dreams, when Lutheran pioneers built a one-room schoolhouse to safeguard their faith and folkways against American assimilation. Today, you'll encounter a campus etched with Viking runes and slate roofs, exuding steadfast Midwestern resolve. Students who flourish here are disciplined doers—choir soloists logging 20 hours weekly, environmental majors mapping bluffs, service junkies tutoring in town—with a personality that's profoundly kind yet quietly competitive, laced with self-deprecating humor about 'Ole winters.' Northfield, a 20,000-person town 40 miles south of Minneapolis, charms with artisanal cheese shops, the world's largest candy store, and bikeable trails to apple orchards. Tradeoffs hit hard: isolation demands self-starters (nearest airport's an hour away), and sub-zero temps from November to April test your grit, turning campus into a snow-globe bubble.
Photo Gallery
+32
+24
Admissions
Acceptance Rate
Test Policy
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Average GPA
Application Fee
Academics
Student-Faculty Ratio
Programs Offered
Full-Time Faculty
Women Faculty
Research Spending
Degree Levels Offered
You'll dive into seminars where professors like cell biologist Cathy Padian dissect Nobel-winning proteins alongside your notes, thanks to the 12:1 ratio that dwarfs ratios at larger privates. St. Olaf excels in music (11 choirs draw 1,000 singers yearly), math (national Putnam competitors), family studies, and conservation biology; sophomores land REUs at Mayo Clinic or NSF-funded labs rarer at peer schools. Classrooms buzz with Socratic debates in the Great Conversation program, blending philosophy and lit like Oxford tutorials, fostering collaborative thinkers over lone geniuses. Research thrives in the gleaming Regents Hall, but expect dense workloads—three papers weekly in humanities—and fewer PhD pipelines than research giants; tradeoffs include limited grad-level seminars for undergrads craving depth.
Student Body
Total Enrollment
3,124 undergrad • 0 grad
Undergraduate
Graduate
International
White
67%
Black / African American
3%
Hispanic / Latino
9%
Asian
6%
Other / Multi-racial
15%
Campus Life
Campus Setting
Northfield, MN
Varsity Athletics
NCAA Athletics
Picture Mondays through Fridays: 8 a.m. Russian lit, noon Ultimate on the frozen quad, afternoons in Stoltenberg lab or choir risers, evenings plotting Global Semester trips over coffee at Erling's Pub downtown. Traditions anchor the vibe—the Christmas Festival packs 5,000 into a gym for four nights of hymns, Manitou Days unleashes freshman pranks, and Boathouse parties ignite spring. Residential quads like Mohn cluster friends into 'hall cultures' with pizza fundraisers and hammock lounges; 280 clubs span a cappella to wilderness canoeing, with minimal Greek life yielding to service fairs. Socially, it's cozy chaos: cross-campus hangs with Carleton's edgier crowd, bonfires after Powder Keg ski races. Positives abound in the inclusive, outdoorsy hum; challenges include weather-induced SAD (campus shrinks in blizzards) and a studious scene where ragers give way to rehearsal marathons.
Housing
On-Campus Housing
Housing Capacity
Meal Plan Available
Average Room & Board
Athletics
Athletic Association
Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
ROTC & Veteran Support
Veteran’s Programs Available
Yellow Ribbon Program (Post-9/11 GI Bill)
Yes
Member of DoD Voluntary Educational Partnership MOU
Yes
Cost & Aid
In-State Tuition
Out-of-State Tuition
Room & Board
Estimated Cost
Financial Aid
Students Receiving Aid
Receiving Pell Grants
Average Grant
Average Federal Loan
Net Annual Cost by Household Income
Household Income
Avg. Net Cost
$0 – $30K
$9,478
$30K – $48K
$12,602
$48K – $75K
$13,712
$75K – $110K
$20,589
$110K+
$33,481
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Outcomes & Earnings
Retention Rate
92%
4 Years Graduation Rate
82%
6 Years Graduation Rate
86%
Median 10-Year Earnings
$65,543
92% of first-time, full-time students complete their freshman year at St. Olaf College and return in the fall. 82% of first-time, full-time students graduate in 4 years, and 86% graduate within 6 years.
Graduation Rate
4-year grads
82%
4-6 years
4%
Non-grad
14%
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Key Statistics
Type
Private
Tuition
$54,650
Acceptance
48%
Undergrads
3,124
4-Year Grad Rate
82%
Endowment
$491M
Northfield, MN 55057-1098
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