Coe College: A Parent's Guide to Admissions, Cost & Outcomes
Des Moines, Iowa · Private nonprofit · Open access
Coe College is a private nonprofit university in Des Moines, Iowa that admits about 98% of applicants, making it a open access school. The average family pays about $21,616 a year after financial aid, which matters more than the published sticker price. It is best known for Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness, Business/Commerce, General and Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods, its largest undergraduate programs by number of graduates. Its most recent Clery Act report shows roughly 12.8 criminal offenses per 1,000 students.
Coe College is a private institution located in Des Moines, Iowa. For the most recent reporting cycle, Coe College admits the majority of qualified applicants, with an overall admission rate of 98%. Admitted students typically post an ACT composite around 20. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $21,616 per year, which is the figure most families actually pay rather than the published sticker price. For parents weighing whether Coe College is realistic for their teenager, the most useful planning step is comparing your child's current GPA and most recent SAT or ACT against these admitted-student ranges — not the headline acceptance rate alone.
What GPA does my child need for Coe College?
Coe College has a broadly accessible admissions profile, and most students who complete a standard college-prep curriculum with a 3.0 GPA or higher are competitive for admission. Parents tracking their child's GPA toward this tier of school can use Solyo's free calculator to see weighted, unweighted, and college-recalculated numbers side by side.
SAT and ACT scores Coe College typically admits
Many applicants to schools in this tier submit test scores, though the policy varies by year — check the latest test-optional status before deciding.
How much does Coe College actually cost?
Published tuition is $33,450 for in-state students and $33,450 for out-of-state, before grants and scholarships. Room and board adds roughly $12,880 annually. After need-based and merit aid, the average family pays a net price of $21,616 per year — the number that actually matters for budgeting. Roughly 38% of students receive Pell Grants, a useful indicator of how much need-based aid the school distributes.
Most popular majors at Coe College
The most popular undergraduate programs at Coe College, measured by the number of students who actually graduate each year, are Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness, Business/Commerce, General and Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods. Across all programs, Coe College confers roughly 265 bachelor's degrees a year. Graduates of its Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness program report a median income of about $55,780 five years after entering college. Major popularity is a practical signal of where a school concentrates its teaching strength and where your child will find the deepest course offerings and peer community.
| Major | Graduates / year | Median earnings (5 yrs out) |
|---|---|---|
| Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness | 56 | $55,780 |
| Business/Commerce, General | 36 | $56,271 |
| Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods | 35 | $49,602 |
| Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing | 33 | $63,111 |
| Psychology, General | 31 | $46,059 |
| Finance and Financial Management Services | 25 | $63,368 |
| Marketing | 25 | $58,421 |
| Accounting and Related Services | 24 | $70,591 |
Is Coe College safe? Campus crime & safety
In its most recent Clery Act report (2024), Coe College disclosed 19 total criminal offenses across its campus and surrounding public property, about 12.8 per 1,000 students. That figure includes 1 violent offenses and 2 reported sexual assaults or VAWA offenses. Per-1,000-student rates matter more than raw counts when comparing schools, because larger universities mechanically report more incidents. Under the federal Clery Act, every college that receives federal aid must publish these numbers annually.
Other colleges in Iowa parents ask about
How parents track GPA toward selective schools like Coe College
Solyo helps parents track grades pulled directly from school emails, calculate GPA the same way colleges like Coe College recalculate it, and ask an AI college counselor specific questions about their teen's odds. The platform is built for parents — not students — and turns what's usually a fragmented planning process into a single dashboard.
Common questions parents ask about Coe College
What GPA do I need for Coe College?
Coe College has a broadly accessible admissions profile, and most students who complete a standard college-prep curriculum with a 3.0 GPA or higher are competitive for admission.
What SAT or ACT score does Coe College typically admit?
Coe College does not publish standardized test ranges in the most recent reporting cycle. Test-optional policies have made scores less universally required, but submitting strong scores still helps when available.
How much does Coe College actually cost after financial aid?
The average net price at Coe College after grants and scholarships is $21,616 per year. That figure is more useful for budgeting than the published sticker price, because it reflects what families actually pay after aid is applied.
Is Coe College realistic for my child?
Compare your teen's current unweighted GPA and most recent SAT or ACT against the ranges above. If both numbers fall inside the school's middle-50, Coe College is a target school. If both fall below the 25th-percentile mark, treat it as a reach and balance the application list accordingly.
What is the acceptance rate at Coe College?
Coe College accepts about 98% of applicants. It admits the majority of qualified applicants.
Is Coe College a public or private school, and where is it located?
Coe College is a private nonprofit institution located in Des Moines, Iowa.
What are the most popular majors at Coe College?
The largest undergraduate majors at Coe College by annual graduates are Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness, Business/Commerce, General and Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods. The school awards about 265 bachelor's degrees a year in total. These figures come from federal IPEDS completion data.
Is Coe College safe? What is its campus crime rate?
Coe College reported 19 total criminal offenses in its most recent Clery Act disclosure (2024), roughly 12.8 per 1,000 students. Compare the per-1,000 rate rather than the raw total, since larger schools report more incidents.
Data sourced from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard and IPEDS, and Clery Act campus safety disclosures. Solyo extracts admissions data from official Common Data Set publications and refreshes it annually.