St Olaf College Overview
St Olaf College is a private not-for-profit institution located in Northfield, Minnesota. The surrounding location of Northfield is ideal for students who enjoy the charms of a college town.
What Is St Olaf College Known For?
- The student loan default rate at St. Olaf is 1%, which is significantly lower than the national rate of 10.1%. That's great news for students who are worrying about paying off their student loans.
- Although it may not be available for every major, the bachelor's degree is the highest award a student can attain at St. Olaf.
- In 2019-2020, 71% of the faculty were full-time.
- Students who graduate from St. Olaf with a bachelor's degree make about $60,242 a year. That's 48% more than those who graduate from other schools.
- It takes the average St. Olaf student 4.1 years to graduate. This is pretty good when compared to the national rate of 4.4 years.
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St Olaf College Rankings
St. Olaf landed the #132 spot in our 2023 ranking of best colleges. We analyzed 2,018 colleges and universities across the nation to determine this ranking. This puts it in the top 10% of all schools in the nation. Out of the 49 colleges in Minnesota, it is ranked at #5.
These rankings may look different from those published by other outlets, because we use an outcomes-based approach rather than a subjective one. We get our data from a number of places, including the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and the College Scorecard. For more information, check out our rankings and methodology page.
St. Olaf has also been awarded the following overall awards by our latest rankings.
Rank | Ranking Name | Share |
---|---|---|
#139 | Best Bachelor’s Degree Schools | Tweet It - Post It |
Program Level Awards
These are highlights of some of the most noteworthy awards granted to specific programs at St. Olaf.
Awards From Around the Web
The following table lists some notable awards St. Olaf has earned from around the web.
Rank | Ranking Name | Source |
---|---|---|
#1 | Best Norwegian Language & Literature Schools | College Factual |
#21 | Best Teaching Bachelor’s Degree Schools | Teaching Degree Search |
#40 | Best Music Schools | College Factual |
#83 | Best Visual & Performing Arts Schools | College Factual |
#102 | Best Biological & Biomedical Sciences Schools | College Factual |
#127 | Best Education Schools | College Factual |
Where Is St Olaf College?

Contact details for St. Olaf are given below.
Contact Details | |
---|---|
Address: | 1520 St Olaf Ave, Northfield, MN 55057-1098 |
Phone: | 507-786-2222 |
Website: | wp.stolaf.edu |
Facebook: | https://www.facebook.com/stolafcollege?sk=wall |
Twitter: | https://twitter.com/StOlaf |
How Do I Get Into St. Olaf?
You can apply to St. Olaf online at: wp.stolaf.edu/admissions/apply/
Admission Requirements for St. Olaf
Submission | Required? |
---|---|
High School GPA | required |
High School Rank | recommended |
High School Transcript | required |
College Prep Program | required |
Recommendations | required |
SAT or ACT Scores | considered but not required |
TOEFL | required |
How Hard Is It To Get Into St. Olaf?
Approximately 43% of accepted students are men and 57% are women. The acceptance rate for men is 48%, and the acceptance rate for women is 53%.
Average Test Scores
About 39% of students accepted to St. Olaf submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 580 and 690. Math scores were between 570 and 700.
Can I Afford St Olaf College?
The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.
Student Loan Debt
It's not uncommon for college students to take out loans to pay for school. In fact, almost 66% of students nationwide depend at least partially on loans. At St. Olaf, approximately 53% of students took out student loans averaging $6,638 a year. That adds up to $26,552 over four years for those students.
The student loan default rate at St. Olaf is 0.8%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you'll be able to pay back your student loans.
St Olaf College Undergraduate Student Diversity

Gender Diversity
Of the 2,916 full-time undergraduates at St. Olaf, 41% are male and 59% are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity
The racial-ethnic breakdown of St Olaf College students is as follows.

Race/Ethnicity | Number of Grads |
---|---|
Asian | 199 |
Black or African American | 95 |
Hispanic or Latino | 220 |
White | 1,967 |
International Students | 289 |
Other Races/Ethnicities | 146 |
Geographic Diversity
Minnesota students aren't the only ones who study at St Olaf College. At this time, 42 states are represented by the student population at the school.
Over 94 countries are represented at St. Olaf. The most popular countries sending students to the school are China, Vietnam, and India.
Online Learning at St Olaf College
St Olaf College Undergraduate Concentrations
The table below shows the number of awards for each concentration.
Major | Bachelor’s | TOTAL |
---|---|---|
General Biology | 95 | 95 |
Economics | 90 | 90 |
Child Development & Psychology | 74 | 74 |
Mathematics | 68 | 68 |
Music | 53 | 53 |
Political Science & Government | 49 | 49 |
General English Literature | 44 | 44 |
Fine & Studio Arts | 35 | 35 |
Natural Resources Conservation | 33 | 33 |
Chemistry | 33 | 33 |
History | 30 | 30 |
Area Studies | 28 | 28 |
Romance Languages | 28 | 28 |
Ethnic Studies | 27 | 27 |
Computer Science | 25 | 25 |
East Asian Languages | 24 | 24 |
Nursing | 24 | 24 |
Health & Physical Education | 23 | 23 |
Religious Studies | 23 | 23 |
Sociology & Anthropology | 23 | 23 |
Teacher Education Subject Specific | 20 | 20 |
Drama & Theater Arts | 15 | 15 |
Physics | 14 | 14 |
Philosophy | 13 | 13 |
Social Work | 11 | 11 |
Liberal Arts General Studies | 9 | 9 |
Germanic Languages | 8 | 8 |
Classical Languages & Literature | 6 | 6 |
Dance | 4 | 4 |
Classical & Ancient Studies | 3 | 3 |
Film, Video & Photographic Arts | 3 | 3 |
Slavic, Baltic & Albanian Languages | 2 | 2 |
Medieval Studies | 1 | 1 |
Sacred Music | 0 | 0 |
TOTAL | 938 | 938 |
References
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
- College Factual
- National Center for Education Statistics
- Image Credit: By Daniel Edwins a.k.a. Webmoof of English Wikipedia under License
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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