10-YEAR PAYOFF CURVECumulative economic payoff after graduation
−$195,746at year 10Net gainInvestment not yet recovered
NET GAIN$0UNRECOVERED
Private nonprofit · COLLEGE PAYOFF
Macalester College
Saint Paul, MN · 11 field-and-degree records
Earnings reported for 8 · Federal debt reported for 11
Based onObserved earnings + college priceEstimate10-year payoff
Estimated 10-year payoff
Negative payoff
−$195,746 over 10 years
Modeled from observed year-5 institution earnings and the institution-wide average net price over four years.
27.3 yrsTime to earn back the modeled cost
−63%Estimated return after 10 years
$56,285Observed earnings · year 5
Not reachedHighest annual price before payoff reaches $0
Start with your question
What do you want to understand?
ECONOMIC INVESTMENT → PAYBACK
Estimated payoff over ten years.
The scenario counts direct price and earnings forgone upfront, then applies the reported annual earnings premium.
FEDERAL COST DATA
Four ways to read college price.
Annual college-wide figures from the current College Scorecard release. Average net price covers full-time, first-time undergraduates receiving federal aid; public-college figures use in-state students. Program tuition and individual aid offers may differ.
PUBLISHED STUDENT BUDGET · 2024–25
What makes up the annual price?
Sticker-price components reported to IPEDS. Grants and scholarships are not subtracted here.
Do not confuse this with net price. Net price subtracts average grants and scholarships. DegreeVerdict continues to use the separately labeled average net price in its standard college ROI scenario.
PRICE SENSITIVITY
The price can change the verdict.
Hold observed earnings constant and see how the modeled ten-year payoff changes as annual price rises.
← Negative payoff$0Positive payoff →
$0Annual price−$67,150
$10,000Annual price−$107,150
$20,000Annual price−$147,150
$30,000Annual price−$187,150
$32,000Current college-wide context−$195,150
$40,000Annual price−$227,150
$50,000Annual price−$267,150
HOW STUDENTS ATTEND · 2023-24
Attendance format is not fully reported.
IPEDS enrollment counts show course delivery across the whole institution. They do not indicate whether a specific degree can be completed online.
Institution-level attendance context from IPEDS. Program delivery is reported separately on degree pages and in the program directory. These figures do not enter ROI.
College identity and local contextAccreditation, institution type, dual enrollment and state prices
COLLEGE AT A GLANCE
Institution details
Current federal characteristics describing the college, not the outcomes of a specific program.
- Accreditor
- Higher Learning Commission
- Main award level
- Bachelor’s degrees
- Campus setting
- City
- Admissions
- Selective admission
- Delivery
- Campus or mixed delivery
- Federal designation
- No special designation reported
STATE PRICE CONTEXT · 2024
Prices in Minnesota run 1% below the U.S. level.
BEA Regional Price Parities compare price levels across states. A value of 100 equals the national average.
What it costs and what graduates earn
$32,149Average net price / year
$82,991Cost of attendance
$23,000Median federal student debt · completer borrowers
$244/moPublished 10-year payment estimate
$56,285Median earnings · year 5 after completion
87.1%Completion rate
28.5%Admission rate
1,440Average SAT score
31ACT midpoint
2,131Student size
Debt covers federal student-loan borrowers who completed. It does not include Parent PLUS or private loans. We show admissions scores only when a valid federal value is available.
What the numbers say about Macalester College
What does Macalester College cost?
Macalester College reports an average annual net price of $32,149 after grants and scholarships. This is an institution-wide average, not an individual aid offer.
What do Macalester College graduates earn?
The observed median earnings figure is $56,285 5 years after completion. It describes a federal cohort, not a guaranteed starting salary.
How much federal debt do Macalester College graduates have?
Completer borrowers report median cumulative federal student debt of $23,000. Parent PLUS and private loans are not included.
Is every degree at Macalester College worth the same?
No. The current release contains 11 field-and-degree records for Macalester College; 8 report year-4 earnings and 11 report federal debt. Outcomes can differ substantially by field and degree level.
DEBT AFTER COLLEGE
Are borrowers making progress?
Repayment progress, default and debt at exit describe different federal borrower cohorts. They are shown separately and do not change the ROI estimate.
Source: College Scorecard. Repayment progress is the share of borrowers who reduced principal by at least $1 at the stated measurement point. Debt covers federal student loans; Parent PLUS and private loans are excluded. Cohorts and reporting periods differ across measures.
Who studied here during the year
2,152Students enrolled at any point
2,152Undergraduate students
Not availableGraduate students
Unduplicated students enrolled at any point from July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025. This full-year measure is different from a fall headcount and does not enter ROI.
More student and earnings detailPrice by family income, retention, equity and common industries
WHO PAYS, WHO FINISHES, WHO EARNS
Outcomes are not the same for every family.
These federal cohorts add context that a single college average can hide. Missing figures remain unreported rather than estimated.
Complete within 150% of the expected time
85% received a Pell Grant within eight yearsMedian Parent PLUS debt
55 parent borrowers in the reported cohortMedian federal student debt
Three-year repayment not reportedStudent family incomeMedian earnings after 10 yearsObserved federal cohorts
Lower income$66,615Earnings are not a guarantee
Middle income$58,509Earnings are not a guarantee
Higher income$64,348Earnings are not a guarantee
Three-year repayment progress
Lower incomeNot reported
Middle incomeNot reported
Higher income90%
Undergraduate student composition
White50%
Black6%
Hispanic11%
Asian8%
Source: College Scorecard, June 2026 release. Parent PLUS debt belongs to parents; student-debt measures exclude Parent PLUS and private loans. Cohort definitions differ by measure.
INDEPENDENT CENSUS EARNINGS VIEW
How earnings develop by field
Privacy-protected Census employment records follow graduate cohorts one, five and ten years after completion. This source is kept separate from College Scorecard because its population and methodology differ.
Field and credentialYear 1Year 5Year 10
Applied Mathematics.Bachelor’s degree · Broad federal field 27
$75,253Year 1
$107,201Year 5
$143,232Year 10
Anthropology.Bachelor’s degree · Broad federal field 45
$57,562Year 1
$64,050Year 5
$95,189Year 10
Astronomy and Astrophysics.Bachelor’s degree · Broad federal field 40
$37,592Year 1
$69,154Year 5
$93,589Year 10
Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology.Bachelor’s degree · Broad federal field 26
$41,196Year 1
$63,451Year 5
$86,929Year 10
Clinical Psychology.Bachelor’s degree · Broad federal field 42
$37,984Year 1
$56,877Year 5
$84,400Year 10
Area Studies.Bachelor’s degree · Broad federal field 05
Not availableYear 1
Not availableYear 5
$82,803Year 10
Accounting and Computer Science.Bachelor’s degree · Broad federal field 30
$43,047Year 1
$57,537Year 5
$80,163Year 10
African Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics.Bachelor’s degree · Broad federal field 16
$47,802Year 1
$54,453Year 5
$71,441Year 10
Median annual earnings in 2023 dollars. Each time point may use a different pooled graduation cohort. Coverage is limited to institutions participating in the Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes program.
NATIONAL CONTEXT
How this college compares
Percentiles compare this institution with currently operating colleges that report the same federal measure.
WHAT STANDS OUT
A faster read on this college
These summaries use every reportable field-and-credential record at this institution. They do not fill privacy-suppressed outcomes.
EARNINGS OVER TIME
What graduates earned in later years
$34,157Year 1
$58,560Year 4
$56,285Year 5
Each year can represent a different federal cohort, so the points do not track the same people over time.
Your choice of degree can change the payoff.
Graduate earnings differ by field and credential, even within the same college.
1Computer and Information Sciences, General · Bachelor's Degree$109,4572Mathematics · Bachelor's Degree$91,9793Economics · Bachelor's Degree$85,5934Political Science and Government · Bachelor's Degree$58,5555Biology, General · Bachelor's Degree$56,1416International/Globalization Studies · Bachelor's Degree$56,0917Geography and Cartography · Bachelor's Degree$52,5578Natural Resources Conservation and Research · Bachelor's Degree$45,632Observed year-4 earnings · compare the same field and credential across colleges
Programs that stand out against the same-degree benchmark
This view rewards performance relative to the same field and credential, not simply majors that pay more everywhere.
1MathematicsBachelor's Degree · $91,979 reported+32%vs same-degree national median$22,483federal debt2Computer and Information Sciences, GeneralBachelor's Degree · $109,457 reported+18%vs same-degree national median$20,829federal debt3EconomicsBachelor's Degree · $85,593 reported+4%vs same-degree national median$24,000federal debt4Biology, GeneralBachelor's Degree · $56,141 reported-2%vs same-degree national median$21,500federal debt5International/Globalization StudiesBachelor's Degree · $56,091 reported-6%vs same-degree national median$23,324federal debt6Political Science and GovernmentBachelor's Degree · $58,555 reported-7%vs same-degree national median$23,250federal debt
Comparable colleges in MN
Currently operating private nonprofit institutions with the closest combination of annual net price and observed year-5 earnings. Similarity is descriptive, not a quality ranking.
Moorhead, MN
Concordia College at Moorhead
- Annual net price
- $24,902
- Observed earnings · year 5
- $55,336
- Modeled 10-year ROI
- -63%
College of Saint Benedict
- Annual net price
- $26,640
- Observed earnings · year 5
- $60,000
- Modeled 10-year ROI
- -48%
St Olaf College
- Annual net price
- $23,874
- Observed earnings · year 5
- $59,029
- Modeled 10-year ROI
- -49%
Hamline University
- Annual net price
- $20,744
- Observed earnings · year 5
- $56,415
- Modeled 10-year ROI
- -57%
Compare fields and degree levels
Showing all 11 field-and-degree records in the current release.
| Major or field | Degree level | Earnings, year 4 | Federal debt | 2024–25 graduates |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Computer and Information Sciences, General | Bachelor's Degree | $109,457 | $20,829 | Not reported |
| Mathematics | Bachelor's Degree | $91,979 | $22,483 | Not reported |
| Economics | Bachelor's Degree | $85,593 | $24,000 | Not reported |
| Political Science and Government | Bachelor's Degree | $58,555 | $23,250 | Not reported |
| Biology, General | Bachelor's Degree | $56,141 | $21,500 | Not reported |
| International/Globalization Studies | Bachelor's Degree | $56,091 | $23,324 | Not reported |
| Geography and Cartography | Bachelor's Degree | $52,557 | $19,049 | Not reported |
| Natural Resources Conservation and Research | Bachelor's Degree | $45,632 | $19,000 | Not reported |
| Rhetoric and Composition/Writing Studies | Bachelor's Degree | Not available | $20,000 | Not reported |
| Neurobiology and Neurosciences | Bachelor's Degree | Not available | $24,177 | Not reported |
| Research and Experimental Psychology | Bachelor's Degree | Not available | $26,000 | Not reported |
Graduate counts come from IPEDS and group related majors into the same federal field. Missing earnings or debt values remain labeled as unavailable.
Earnings, price, completion and enrollment are observed federal measures. ROI, payoff and break-even are modeled scenarios built from those measures and fixed assumptions. College payoff is not the payoff of every degree at this school; use the program table for a more precise comparison.