After both rounds of Early Decision (ED) admissions passed in January, Grinnell has offered admission to 282 out of 828 applicants, a 34% acceptance rate. Joe Bagnoli, vice president for enrollment and dean of admission and financial aid, said that with a total target class size of 460 students, those admitted during ED will occupy around 57% of the class of 2028.
Bagnoli said the fact that “over 800 students this year have concluded that this is where they would most want to be is a significant difference than where we were 5 years ago … It just means that more and more people know about Grinnell and more and more people like what they know,” Bagnoli continued. “It makes it tough because they’re highly qualified.”
Over the past four years, Grinnell’s admission rate for ED has been over 50%, while the Regular Decision (RD) rate has averaged 14%. For the upcoming class of 2028, the ED admissions rate decreased and the overall rate, combining ED and RD, is also projected to decrease from last year’s 12.7%.
Applicants interested in ED can only apply to one school because it is a binding program. Those admitted during either round must withdraw any applications to other schools and accept their offered financial aid package, with some exceptions.
“We always encourage students who wonder whether or not it’s going to be financially feasible to complete a net price calculator and confer with their family about the feasibility of enrollment,” Bagnoli said. He added that students with other questions are encouraged to speak with the financial aid office to calculate costs that might not be indicated on Grinnell’s Net Price Calculator or the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. “What we don’t want is surprises in terms of what a family might expect,” he said.
Bagnoli attributed the increase in ED applications to a deeper institutional commitment to marketing and advertising towards prospective students, as well as Grinnell’s no-loan initiative and test-optional policy — which the College will review in 2026.
A current first-year ED admit from St. Louis, Leila Fischer `27 said that the word “Grinnell” appeared in some of her childhood passwords. “My parents both went to Grinnell, so I always kind of knew,” she said. After visiting campus with her former babysitter years ago — whom Fischer’s parents also convinced to attend — Fischer said she finalized her decision after witnessing firsthand a friendly and tight-knit community. She added that while she did not have concerns about financial aid when applying, the binding commitment is not for everyone. “I would just say if you’re really, really set on a school, it’s so worth it. I could not be happier.”
Sam Beck `27, a cross country and track and field recruit from New Jersey, said he primarily applied ED because he “saw how much it would improve [his] chance of admission.” Although he had some reservations about the binding nature of the commitment regarding financial aid, Beck said he trusted Grinnell’s aid offer, especially with the Grinnell Choice Scholarship, which guaranteed that all domestic students admitted ED in 2023 receive a minimum scholarship of $10,000, renewable for 8 semesters.
For those admitted ED this year, that number has risen to $20,000. “In experience from talking to [some of] next year’s recruited athletes, that’s a big deal, that’s a big selling point,” said Beck. Bagnoli said that the College created the Choice Scholarship in an effort to better meet family perception of need. “With the growing costs associated with our comprehensive fee, it’s an increasingly important component of a family’s financing plan,” Bagnoli said.
Manny Soloway `27 admitted that although he applied ED to Grinnell in 2023, it was not necessarily his first choice school. For Soloway, “It was a financial decision in the sense that if I could get into a liberal arts school that I liked, that had good financing, it made sense to do Early Decision to ensure the maximum opportunity that I would get into a school like Grinnell.” Ultimately deciding that Grinnell’s comparably higher ED acceptance rate and better financial aid topped his other top contender, Colorado College, Soloway said that he is pleased with the outcome.
“To be binded to this one school, it can be a blessing and a curse,” Soloway said. “With the financial aid and not knowing if you made the right choice, I think you have to be the sort of person who’s willing to be able to make that big commitment.”
According to Bagnoli, students admitted in ED and RD do not differ much demographically.
Bagnoli said that the College’s former relationship with the Posse Foundation and more recent relationship with the QuestBridge — both ED scholarship programs that provide financial assistance to low-income and first-generation students — the College admits similar numbers of students from underrepresented backgrounds in all admission rounds.
“The experience of Early Decision and Regular Decision admits upon enrollment at Grinnell are very similar, their GPAs are almost identical. It isn’t as though there’s a significant difference in experience depending on which round they apply,” Bagnoli said. “A high percentage of students coming through Early Decision at Grinnell is appropriate, provided the profile of our class continues to reflect Grinnell’s commitments to academic excellence, access and diversity.”
