Kenyon College: A Parent's Guide to Admissions, Cost & Outcomes
Gambier, Ohio · Private nonprofit · Selective · CDS 2024-2025
Kenyon College is a private nonprofit university in Gambier, Ohio that admits about 31% of applicants, making it a selective school. The average family pays about $29,383 a year after financial aid, which matters more than the published sticker price. It is best known for English Language and Literature, General, Economics and Psychology, General, its largest undergraduate programs by number of graduates. About 82% of students graduate within six years. Its most recent Clery Act report shows roughly 7.5 criminal offenses per 1,000 students.
Kenyon College is a private institution located in Gambier, Ohio with a selective admissions profile. For the most recent reporting cycle, Kenyon College admits between a quarter and half of applicants, with an overall admission rate of 31%. Admitted students typically post an average SAT of 1440 and an ACT composite around 33. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $29,383 per year, which is the figure most families actually pay rather than the published sticker price. For parents weighing whether Kenyon 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 Kenyon College?
Admitted students at Kenyon College typically present unweighted GPAs in the 3.6–3.9 range with several honors or AP courses. 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 Kenyon College weight in admissions?
Kenyon 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
- • Academic GPA
- • Application essay
- • Recommendations
- • Class rank
- • Standardized test scores
- • Interview
- • Extracurricular activities
- • Talent/ability
- • Character/personal qualities
- • State residency
- • Volunteer work
- • Work experience
- • Level of applicant's interest
- • First generation status
- • Alumni/ae relation
- • Geographical residence
- • Religious affiliation/commitment
SAT and ACT scores Kenyon College typically admits
The middle-50 SAT Math range is 670–750, with an EBRW midpoint near 715. The middle-50 ACT composite range is 31–34. A score at or above this school's 75th percentile materially improves your child's odds, particularly when paired with a rigorous course load.
| 25th percentile | 1370 |
| 50th percentile | 1420 |
| 75th percentile | 1473 |
| % submitting SAT | 11% |
| 25th percentile | 31 |
| 50th percentile | 32 |
| 75th percentile | 33 |
| % submitting ACT | 10% |
- • 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 | 61% |
| Top 25% of class | 84% |
| Top 50% of class | 96% |
| % submitting class rank | 18.7% |
How much does Kenyon College actually cost?
Published tuition is $69,330 for in-state students and $69,330 for out-of-state, before grants and scholarships. Room and board adds roughly $14,410 annually. After need-based and merit aid, the average family pays a net price of $29,383 per year — the number that actually matters for budgeting. Roughly 10% of students receive Pell Grants, a useful indicator of how much need-based aid the school distributes.
| In-state tuition | $71,870 |
| Room and board | $17,380 |
| Average net price (after aid) | $29,383 |
| Application fee | $0 |
Application deadlines and early decision data for Kenyon College
| Regular deadline | 1/15 |
| Notification date | 3/23 |
| Reply deadline | 5/1 |
| Offers Early Decision | Yes |
| ED deadline | 11/15 |
Will my child graduate from Kenyon 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 Kenyon College
The most popular undergraduate programs at Kenyon College, measured by the number of students who actually graduate each year, are English Language and Literature, General, Economics and Psychology, General. Across all programs, Kenyon College confers roughly 328 bachelor's degrees a year. Graduates of its English Language and Literature, General program report a median income of about $44,562 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) |
|---|---|---|
| English Language and Literature, General | 70 | $44,562 |
| Economics | 61 | $85,978 |
| Psychology, General | 48 | — |
| Political Science and Government | 44 | — |
| History | 33 | — |
| Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics | 25 | — |
| Biology, General | 24 | — |
| Fine and Studio Arts | 23 | — |
Is Kenyon College safe? Campus crime & safety
In its most recent Clery Act report (2024), Kenyon College disclosed 13 total criminal offenses across its campus and surrounding public property, about 7.5 per 1,000 students. That figure includes 0 violent offenses and 13 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 Kenyon College?
About 100% of undergraduates at Kenyon College live in campus housing, making it a largely residential campus. In Greek life, 20% of men join a fraternity and 28% 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 Ohio parents ask about
- Ohio State University-Main Campus51% acceptance
- University of Cincinnati-Main Campus85% acceptance
- Case Western Reserve University81% acceptance
- University of Dayton95% acceptance
- Miami University-Oxford82% acceptance
- Kent State University at Kent81% acceptance
- Cleveland State University
- Oberlin College87% acceptance
How parents track GPA toward selective schools like Kenyon College
Solyo helps parents track grades pulled directly from school emails, calculate GPA the same way colleges like Kenyon 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 Kenyon College
What GPA do I need for Kenyon College?
Admitted students at Kenyon College typically present unweighted GPAs in the 3.6–3.9 range with several honors or AP courses.
What SAT or ACT score does Kenyon College typically admit?
The middle-50 SAT Math range is 670–750, with an EBRW midpoint near 715. The middle-50 ACT composite range is 31–34.
How much does Kenyon College actually cost after financial aid?
The average net price at Kenyon College after grants and scholarships is $29,383 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 Kenyon 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, Kenyon 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 Kenyon College?
Kenyon College accepts about 31% of applicants out of roughly 7,726 who apply each year. That makes it a selective school.
Is Kenyon College test-optional?
Yes. Kenyon 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 Kenyon College?
About 82% of students at Kenyon College graduate within six years, and 67% finish in four years. 92% of freshmen return for sophomore year. Graduation rate predicts real outcomes better than acceptance rate.
What does Kenyon College look for in applicants?
Kenyon College rates course rigor, GPA, the application essay and recommendations as "very important" in its Common Data Set. These are the factors the admissions committee weighs most heavily when reviewing an application.
Is Kenyon College a public or private school, and where is it located?
Kenyon College is a private nonprofit institution located in Gambier, Ohio.
What are the most popular majors at Kenyon College?
The largest undergraduate majors at Kenyon College by annual graduates are English Language and Literature, General, Economics and Psychology, General. The school awards about 328 bachelor's degrees a year in total. These figures come from federal IPEDS completion data.
Is Kenyon College safe? What is its campus crime rate?
Kenyon College reported 13 total criminal offenses in its most recent Clery Act disclosure (2024), roughly 7.5 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 Kenyon College?
At Kenyon College, 100% of undergraduates live on campus, 20% of men are in fraternities, 28% of women are in sororities, according to its most recent Common Data Set.
Data sourced from the 2024-2025 Common Data Set submitted by Kenyon 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.