Carleton College: A Parent's Guide to Admissions, Cost & Outcomes
Northfield, Minnesota · Private nonprofit · Highly selective · CDS 2024-2025
Carleton College is a private nonprofit university in Northfield, Minnesota that admits about 22% of applicants, making it a highly selective school. The average family pays about $27,320 a year after financial aid, which matters more than the published sticker price. It is best known for Computer Science, Biology, General and International Relations and National Security Studies, its largest undergraduate programs by number of graduates. About 90% of students graduate within six years. Its most recent Clery Act report shows roughly 8.6 criminal offenses per 1,000 students.
Carleton College is a private institution located in Northfield, Minnesota and one of the highly selective schools in the country. For the most recent reporting cycle, Carleton College admits roughly one in four applicants, with an overall admission rate of 22%. Admitted students typically post an average SAT of 1491 and an ACT composite around 33. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $27,320 per year, which is the figure most families actually pay rather than the published sticker price. For parents weighing whether Carleton 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 Carleton College?
Most admitted students at Carleton College present unweighted GPAs in the 3.85–4.0 range with five or more AP or honors courses across high school. 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.
What does Carleton College weight in admissions?
Carleton College reports the following factor importance in its Common Data Set (2024-2025). These are the criteria the admissions committee weighs when reviewing applications.
- • Rigor of secondary school record
- • Class rank
- • Academic GPA
- • Application essay
- • Recommendations
- • Extracurricular activities
- • Talent/ability
- • Character/personal qualities
- • Standardized test scores
- • Interview
- • First generation status
- • Geographical residence
- • Volunteer work
- • Work experience
- • Alumni/ae relation
- • State residency
- • Religious affiliation/commitment
- • Level of applicant's interest
SAT and ACT scores Carleton College typically admits
The middle-50 SAT Math range is 720–790, with an EBRW midpoint near 729. The middle-50 ACT composite range is 32–34. Scores below the 25th-percentile mark are accepted occasionally, but the realistic submission target for most families is the school's middle-50 floor or higher.
| 25th percentile | 1470 |
| 50th percentile | 1510 |
| 75th percentile | 1540 |
| % submitting SAT | 34% |
| 25th percentile | 32 |
| 50th percentile | 34 |
| 75th percentile | 35 |
| % submitting ACT | 25% |
- • Test-optional: Standardized test scores are not required, but may be submitted and considered.
- • Policy detail: Considered if submitted
Where admitted students ranked in their high school class
Class rank distribution gives parents a clear sense of how academically dominant a typical admitted student was within their own high school cohort — often a more meaningful signal than absolute GPA.
| Top 10% of class | 63% |
| Top 25% of class | 93% |
| Top 50% of class | 99% |
| % submitting class rank | 28% |
How much does Carleton College actually cost?
Published tuition is $65,457 for in-state students and $65,457 for out-of-state, before grants and scholarships. Room and board adds roughly $16,710 annually. After need-based and merit aid, the average family pays a net price of $27,320 per year — the number that actually matters for budgeting. Roughly 14% of students receive Pell Grants, a useful indicator of how much need-based aid the school distributes.
| In-state tuition | $68,457 |
| Room and board | $17,586 |
| Average net price (after aid) | $27,320 |
| Application fee | $0 |
Application deadlines and early decision data for Carleton College
| Regular deadline | January 15 |
| Notification date | March 31 |
| Reply deadline | May 1 |
| Offers Early Decision | Yes |
| ED deadline | November 15 |
| ED acceptance rate | 37% |
Will my child graduate from Carleton College?
Retention and graduation rates are the most overlooked numbers in college planning, but they predict actual outcomes far better than acceptance rate. They tell you whether admitted students stay and finish on time.
Most popular majors at Carleton College
The most popular undergraduate programs at Carleton College, measured by the number of students who actually graduate each year, are Computer Science, Biology, General and International Relations and National Security Studies. Across all programs, Carleton College confers roughly 350 bachelor's degrees a year. Graduates of its Computer Science program report a median income of about $121,569 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) |
|---|---|---|
| Computer Science | 59 | $121,569 |
| Biology, General | 59 | $61,887 |
| International Relations and National Security Studies | 56 | — |
| Research and Experimental Psychology | 43 | — |
| Mathematics | 38 | — |
| Economics | 34 | $107,997 |
| Chemistry | 33 | — |
| Physics | 28 | — |
Is Carleton College safe? Campus crime & safety
In its most recent Clery Act report (2024), Carleton College disclosed 18 total criminal offenses across its campus and surrounding public property, about 8.6 per 1,000 students. That figure includes 1 violent offenses and 12 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.
What is campus life like at Carleton College?
About 97% of undergraduates at Carleton College live in campus housing, making it a largely residential campus. In Greek life, 0% of men join a fraternity and 0% of women join a sorority. Residential rate and Greek participation shape day-to-day social life and are worth weighing alongside academics and cost.
Other colleges in Minnesota parents ask about
- University of Minnesota-Twin Cities77% acceptance
- University of St Thomas85% acceptance
- Macalester College28% acceptance
- University of Minnesota Duluth52% acceptance
- University of Minnesota-Morris77% acceptance
- Minneapolis Community and Technical College90% acceptance
- St Olaf College94% acceptance
- Gustavus Adolphus College70% acceptance
How parents track GPA toward selective schools like Carleton College
Solyo helps parents track grades pulled directly from school emails, calculate GPA the same way colleges like Carleton 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 Carleton College
What GPA do I need for Carleton College?
Most admitted students at Carleton College present unweighted GPAs in the 3.85–4.0 range with five or more AP or honors courses across high school.
What SAT or ACT score does Carleton College typically admit?
The middle-50 SAT Math range is 720–790, with an EBRW midpoint near 729. The middle-50 ACT composite range is 32–34.
How much does Carleton College actually cost after financial aid?
The average net price at Carleton College after grants and scholarships is $27,320 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 Carleton 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, Carleton 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 Carleton College?
Carleton College accepts about 22% of applicants out of roughly 7,133 who apply each year. That makes it a highly selective school.
Is Carleton College test-optional?
Yes. Carleton College is test-optional, so SAT and ACT scores are not required, but strong scores can still be submitted and will be considered.
What is the graduation rate at Carleton College?
About 90% of students at Carleton College graduate within six years, and 82% finish in four years. 97% of freshmen return for sophomore year. Graduation rate predicts real outcomes better than acceptance rate.
Does applying Early Decision improve my chances at Carleton College?
Carleton College's Early Decision acceptance rate is about 37%, compared with its overall rate of 22%. Applying ED can meaningfully improve admission odds, but it is a binding commitment to enroll if accepted.
What does Carleton College look for in applicants?
Carleton College rates course rigor, class rank, GPA and the application essay as "very important" in its Common Data Set. These are the factors the admissions committee weighs most heavily when reviewing an application.
Is Carleton College a public or private school, and where is it located?
Carleton College is a private nonprofit institution located in Northfield, Minnesota.
What are the most popular majors at Carleton College?
The largest undergraduate majors at Carleton College by annual graduates are Computer Science, Biology, General and International Relations and National Security Studies. The school awards about 350 bachelor's degrees a year in total. These figures come from federal IPEDS completion data.
Is Carleton College safe? What is its campus crime rate?
Carleton College reported 18 total criminal offenses in its most recent Clery Act disclosure (2024), roughly 8.6 per 1,000 students. Compare the per-1,000 rate rather than the raw total, since larger schools report more incidents.
What is campus life like at Carleton College?
At Carleton College, 97% of undergraduates live on campus, 0% of men are in fraternities, 0% of women are in sororities, according to its most recent Common Data Set.
Data sourced from the 2024-2025 Common Data Set submitted by Carleton College, 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.