Macalester College
Saint Paul, Minnesota · Private, nonprofit
Graduate earnings
10of 11 assessed undergraduate programs
have graduates earning more than a typical Minnesota high-school graduate (about $37,835 a year). 1 falls short.
11 of 39 undergraduate programs could be assessed. The other 28: 26 with no earnings published and 2 with nothing reported. 3 verdicts use 1-year earnings, an earlier career stage.
Average net price, all families$32,149 a year By family income
What it would cost
Net price is the yearly cost after grants and scholarships, as reported for students who received federal aid.
Average for all families
$32,149 a year
About $128,596 over 4 years, if price and aid stay the same.
This multiplies the reported yearly net price by the years you choose. It is not a quote or a prediction: it leaves out interest, price rises and the chance of taking longer to finish.
Net price for every income band
| Family income | Net price per year |
|---|---|
| Under $30k | $13,772 |
| $30k to $48k | $11,982 |
| $48k to $75k | $11,098 |
| $75k to $110k | $20,527 |
| $110k and up | $44,880 |
| All families (average) | $32,149 |
College Scorecard, release 2026-06-10. Bands with no figure were not reported by the school.
Program earnings
Median earnings of each program’s graduates against a typical Minnesota high-school graduate ($37,835 a year).
11 of 39 programs could be assessed 28% have an earnings verdict
| Program | Degree | Median earnings | vs a high-school grad | Verdict | Median debt | Debt as years of gain | Recent completers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Computer and Information Science | Bachelor's Degree | $109,457 | +$71,622 | clears the bar | $21,500 | 0.3 yrs | 72 |
| Mathematics | Bachelor's Degree | $91,979 | +$54,144 | clears the bar | $23,745 | 0.4 yrs | 63 |
| Economics | Bachelor's Degree | $85,593 | +$47,758 | clears the bar | $24,000 | 0.5 yrs | 61 |
| Biology | Bachelor's Degree | $56,141 | +$18,306 | clears the bar | $21,500 | 1.2 yrs | 49 |
| Political Science | Bachelor's Degree | $58,555 | +$20,720 | clears the bar | $23,118 | 1.1 yrs | 43 |
| Research Psychology | Bachelor's Degree | $38,0271-year earnings | +$192 | clears the bar (1-yr) | $26,000 | 135.4 yrs | 41 |
| Neuroscience | Bachelor's Degree | $45,4501-year earnings | +$7,615 | clears the bar (1-yr) | $24,177 | 3.2 yrs | 35 |
| Natural Resources and Conservation | Bachelor's Degree | $45,632 | +$7,797 | clears the bar | $19,000 | 2.4 yrs | 31 |
| International/Globalization Studies | Bachelor's Degree | $56,091 | +$18,256 | clears the bar | $23,324 | 1.3 yrs | 28 |
| Rhetoric and Composition/Writing Studies | Bachelor's Degree | $29,4871-year earnings | -$8,348 | falls short (1-yr) | $20,000 | no earnings gain | 15 |
| Geography and Cartography | Bachelor's Degree | $52,557 | +$14,722 | clears the bar | $19,049 | 1.3 yrs | not published |
| Geography and Environmental Studies | Bachelor's Degree | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 21 |
| Physics | Bachelor's Degree | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 21 |
| Communications and Media | Bachelor's Degree | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 16 |
| Philosophy | Bachelor's Degree | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 16 |
| Sociology | Bachelor's Degree | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 14 |
| Geology and Earth Science | Bachelor's Degree | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 13 |
| Fine Arts | Bachelor's Degree | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 13 |
| Chemistry | Bachelor's Degree | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 12 |
| Anthropology | Bachelor's Degree | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 12 |
| History | Bachelor's Degree | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 11 |
| Area Studies | Bachelor's Degree | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 10 |
| East Asian Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics | Bachelor's Degree | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 10 |
| Music | Bachelor's Degree | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 10 |
| Education | Bachelor's Degree | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 9 |
| Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics | Bachelor's Degree | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 9 |
| Intercultural/Multicultural and Diversity Studies | Bachelor's Degree | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 9 |
| Linguistic, Comparative, and Related Language Studies and Services | Bachelor's Degree | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 8 |
| English | Bachelor's Degree | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 7 |
| Religion/Religious Studies | Bachelor's Degree | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 5 |
| Theatre | Bachelor's Degree | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 5 |
| Germanic Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics | Bachelor's Degree | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 4 |
| Slavic, Baltic and Albanian Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics | Bachelor's Degree | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 3 |
| Classics and Classical Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics | Bachelor's Degree | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 3 |
| Ethnic, Cultural Minority, Gender, and Group Studies | Bachelor's Degree | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 2 |
| Interdisciplinary Studies | Bachelor's Degree | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 2 |
| Computational Science | Bachelor's Degree | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 1 |
| Liberal Arts and General Studies | Non-Credential Program (Preparatory Coursework/Teacher Certification) | not reported | not reported | nothing reported | not reported | not reported | not reported |
| Psychology | Bachelor's Degree | not reported | not reported | nothing reported | not reported | not reported | not reported |
Sources and definitions
- U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, release 2026-06-10. Earnings are medians for graduates who received federal aid. Debt is federal loans only.
- The high-school line is ED’s state benchmark, $37,835 a year.
- Earnings not published: ED reports the program but no earnings figure, usually because too few graduates were measured. Nothing reported: ED lists the program with no figures at all. Neither is a judgement of the program.
- Debt as years of gain is median federal debt divided by how much more graduates earn per year than a typical high-school graduate. It is not a repayment time.
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