Grinnell College vs Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Grinnell College and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) stand as two distinct beacons of higher education, each offering a unique path to academic excellence. Grinnell, a liberal arts college nestled in the heart of Iowa, boasts a tight-knit community and a focus on interdisciplinary learning, while MIT, a world-renowned research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is celebrated for its rigorous STEM programs and cutting-edge research opportunities. With acceptance rates of 18% and 7%, respectively, these institutions attract high-achieving students from across the globe. While Grinnell's student body is more diverse, with 48% students of color compared to MIT's 43%, both institutions prioritize academic rigor and personal growth. Explore the comparison table below to delve into further details about these two exceptional institutions and discover which one aligns best with your academic aspirations and personal preferences.
Grinnell College logo

Grinnell College

Massachusetts Institute of Technology logo

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Overview

Location Grinnell, Iowa Cambridge, Massachusetts
Campus setting Town: Remote City: Midsize
College type 4 year 4 year
Control/business model Private (Non Profit) Private (Non Profit)
Calendar system Semester 4-1-4
Degrees offered Undergraduate Undergraduate and Graduate
Students retention rate 93.0% 99.0%
Common app member Yes No
Religious affiliation

Admission

Acceptance rate 10.5% 4.1%
Application fees
Undergraduate: $75

Graduate: $75
SAT range 1370 - 1530 N/A
ACT range 30 - 34 N/A
Students submitting SAT score 29.0%
Students submitting ACT score 33.0%
Total number of applicants 10,513 33,240
Total number of admissions given out 1,108 1,365
Admitted students who chose to enroll 471 1,177
Yield rate 42.5% 86.2%
Test scores (SAT/ACT) N/A N/A
High school GPA Not required Not required
Recommendation letters Required Required
High school transcript Not required Not required
English proficiency test (e.g. TOEFL) Required Not required

Tuition and Fees

Sticker price $76,098 $58,920
Average net price $37,423 $30,958
Tuition $58,156 $55,510
Room & board
Room/dormitory: $6,779

Meal plan: $7,572
Room/dormitory: $11,550

Meal plan: $6,550
Available payment plans
  • Tuition payment plan
  • Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid

Students receiving financial aid

(Grants & scholarships)

100.0%
Average amount $35,821
100.0%
Average amount $32,562
Students receiving federal student loan 36.0%
Average amount $3,952
6.0%
Average amount $5,112
Students taking out private loans 12.0%
Average amount $5,903
1.0%
Average amount $17,891

Students and Campus

Undergraduate students 1,748
Men 47.5% Women 52.5%
4,638
Men 51.9% Women 48.1%
Graduate students N/A 7,296
Men 62.0% Women 38.0%
Racial/ethnic diversity
Low
Moderate
Out-of-state students 91.5% N/A
International students 19.4% 29.2%
Campus local/setting Town: Remote City: Midsize
Dormitory capacity 1,450 6,280
First year students are required to live on campus? Yes No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from California Illinois Iowa Minnesota Texas California Texas New York Florida New Jersey

Academics

Popular study areas
  • Social Sciences
  • Foreign Languages and Literatures
  • Physical Science
  • Visual & Performing Arts
  • Computer and Information Science
  • Engineering
  • Business
  • Computer and Information Science
  • Architecture
  • Mathematics and Statistics
Students to faculty ratio 9:1 3:1
Institutional accreditation Higher Learning Commission New England Commission on Higher Education

Outcome

Graduation rate 86.9% 96.2%
Dropout rate 12.9% 3.0%
Transferred out N/A N/A
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)
Economics (Bachelor's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $56,661
  • Year 2: $52,941
  • Year 3: $55,487
Political Science and Government (Bachelor's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $31,893
  • Year 2: $34,704
  • Year 3: $49,481
English Language and Literature, General (Bachelor's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $20,499
  • Year 2: $29,141
  • Year 3: $41,882
Sociology (Bachelor's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $27,517
  • Year 2: $33,993
  • Year 3: $40,572
Psychology, General (Bachelor's Degrees)
  • Year 1: N/A
  • Year 2: $26,353
  • Year 3: $37,882
Ethnic, Cultural Minority, Gender, and Group Studies (Bachelor's Degrees)
  • Year 1: N/A
  • Year 2: $21,508
  • Year 3: $37,613
Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics (Bachelor's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $23,718
  • Year 2: $19,227
  • Year 3: $29,237
Fine and Studio Arts (Bachelor's Degrees)
  • Year 1: N/A
  • Year 2: $20,140
  • Year 3: $28,680
Computer Science (Bachelor's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $70,658
  • Year 2: $91,744
  • Year 3: N/A
Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities (Bachelor's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $29,239
  • Year 2: N/A
  • Year 3: N/A
Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering (Master's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $144,716
  • Year 2: $150,045
  • Year 3: $183,153
Business/Commerce, General (Master's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $170,089
  • Year 2: $165,236
  • Year 3: $182,183
Computer Science (Bachelor's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $118,191
  • Year 2: $127,993
  • Year 3: $163,496
Mathematics (Bachelor's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $82,796
  • Year 2: $117,572
  • Year 3: $155,540
Systems Engineering (Master's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $133,685
  • Year 2: $137,214
  • Year 3: $155,079
Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $104,229
  • Year 2: $121,226
  • Year 3: $139,548
Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering (Doctoral Degrees)
  • Year 1: $141,603
  • Year 2: $126,504
  • Year 3: $132,987
Mechanical Engineering (Doctoral Degrees)
  • Year 1: N/A
  • Year 2: $112,885
  • Year 3: $124,425
Mechanical Engineering (Master's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $135,266
  • Year 2: $111,435
  • Year 3: $112,404
Aerospace, Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering (Master's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $109,955
  • Year 2: $104,749
  • Year 3: $109,672

Compare Similar Colleges

The list of suggested college comparisons provided below is generated automatically by our system, utilizing statistics gathered from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and various online sources. If you don't find the colleges you wish to compare, please visit our comparison page. There, you can search for the specific colleges and initiate your comparison.
Grinnell College Grinnell College vs University of California-Berkeley University of California-Berkeley
Grinnell College Grinnell College vs Claremont McKenna College Claremont McKenna College
Grinnell College Grinnell College vs Harvey Mudd College Harvey Mudd College
Grinnell College Grinnell College vs Pitzer College Pitzer College
Grinnell College Grinnell College vs Pomona College Pomona College
Grinnell College Grinnell College vs Wesleyan University Wesleyan University
Grinnell College Grinnell College vs Knox College Knox College
Grinnell College Grinnell College vs DePauw University DePauw University
Grinnell College Grinnell College vs Buena Vista University Buena Vista University
Grinnell College Grinnell College vs Graceland University-Lamoni Graceland University-Lamoni
Grinnell College Grinnell College vs Northwestern College Northwestern College
Grinnell College Grinnell College vs Berea College Berea College
Grinnell College Grinnell College vs Colby College Colby College
Grinnell College Grinnell College vs Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University
Grinnell College Grinnell College vs Harvard University Harvard University
Grinnell College Grinnell College vs Massachusetts Institute of Technology Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Grinnell College Grinnell College vs Hillsdale College Hillsdale College
Grinnell College Grinnell College vs Millsaps College Millsaps College
Grinnell College Grinnell College vs Dartmouth College Dartmouth College
Grinnell College Grinnell College vs Bard College Bard College
Grinnell College Grinnell College vs Cornell University Cornell University
Grinnell College Grinnell College vs Hamilton College Hamilton College
Grinnell College Grinnell College vs Union College Union College
Grinnell College Grinnell College vs University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Grinnell College Grinnell College vs Franklin and Marshall College Franklin and Marshall College
Grinnell College Grinnell College vs Lafayette College Lafayette College
Grinnell College Grinnell College vs Brown University Brown University
Grinnell College Grinnell College vs Wofford College Wofford College
Grinnell College Grinnell College vs Rhodes College Rhodes College
Grinnell College Grinnell College vs Trinity University Trinity University
Grinnell College Grinnell College vs Middlebury College Middlebury College
Grinnell College Grinnell College vs University of Virginia-Main Campus University of Virginia-Main Campus
Grinnell College Grinnell College vs Stanford University Stanford University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT vs California Institute of Technology California Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT vs University of California-Berkeley University of California-Berkeley
Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT vs Harvey Mudd College Harvey Mudd College
Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT vs University of Southern California University of Southern California
Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT vs United States Air Force Academy United States Air Force Academy
Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT vs Yale University Yale University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT vs Florida Institute of Technology Florida Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT vs Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus
Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT vs University of Georgia University of Georgia
Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT vs University of Chicago University of Chicago
Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT vs Illinois Institute of Technology Illinois Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT vs Northwestern University Northwestern University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT vs University of Notre Dame University of Notre Dame
Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT vs Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT vs Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT vs University of Maryland-College Park University of Maryland-College Park
Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT vs United States Naval Academy United States Naval Academy
Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT vs Harvard University Harvard University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT vs Wellesley College Wellesley College
Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT vs Lawrence Technological University Lawrence Technological University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT vs Barnard College Barnard College
Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT vs CUNY Graduate School and University Center CUNY Graduate School and University Center
Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT vs New York University New York University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT vs University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT vs University of Advancing Technology University of Advancing Technology