Grinnell College

What Grinnell College does

Grinnell College is a private, nonprofit liberal arts college founded in 1846 and headquartered in Grinnell, Iowa. Its primary customers are approximately 1,700 residential undergraduate students (implied by a 9:1 student-faculty ratio and a 501–1,000 employee band), with secondary stakeholders including alumni/donors, faculty and staff, transfer and dual-degree candidates, and a small cohort of veterans and international students. Recurring revenue derives primarily from tuition and fees plus room and board, supplemented by federal Title IV aid disbursements, external research and program grants (e.g., NSF, NEH, Louisville Institute), and philanthropic donations managed via the endowment and alumni.grinnell.edu. Tuition and fee price points are not publicly disclosed on the institutional site; cost-of-attendance information is routed through the College Board Net Price Calculator.

Name

Grinnell College

Legal name

Grinnell College

Website

https://grinnell.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

1846

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

Grinnell College is a private nonprofit liberal arts college in Grinnell, Iowa, founded in 1846, serving roughly 1,700 residential undergraduates through a 9:1 student-faculty ratio, an open curriculum, and the signature First-Year Tutorial.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Higher Education (Liberal Arts)

NAICS

Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (6113)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

General Liberal Arts Colleges (EDAHACAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Personal Enrichment & Creative Arts Programs (EDAAAEAG)

Keywords

• Liberal arts education
• Undergraduate residential college
• Academic advising services
• Student health wellness
• Career life services

Headquarters

HQ city

Grinnell

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices7 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Supply Chain, Others

Revenue model

1. Student Tuition and Fees: Primary recurring revenue stream from undergraduate enrollment (degree-seeking residential students). Tuition and fees are billed per academic term; a Net Price Calculator (NPC) is provided via College Board.
2. Room and Board: Residential college model: students live on campus and purchase meal plans, generating recurring revenue per semester.
3. Philanthropic Donations and Endowment Giving: Voluntary gifts from alumni, donors, and prospective donors solicited via alumni.grinnell.edu. Donations may be restricted (e.g., the Jennifer Honeycutt '91 endowed chair gift to Environmental Studies).
4. Federal Financial Aid Disbursements: Title IV HEA federal student loans (Subsidized, Unsubsidized, PLUS), Federal Perkins Loans, and federal grants channeled through the Office of Financial Aid.
5. Research and Program Grants: External grant funding supporting faculty scholarship (e.g., National Science Foundation grants to Professor Shonda Kuiper for Stat2Labs and Web-based games modules) and curricular programs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Grinnell College is a private, residential undergraduate liberal arts college in Grinnell, Iowa, delivering a four-year open-curriculum degree program anchored by the signature First-Year Tutorial and the Academic Success Center. It supplements classroom instruction with integrated student services including Student Health and Wellness (SHAW), career advising through the Center for Careers, Life, and Service, academic learning centers (Writing/Reading/Speaking, Science Learning Center, DASIL), and co-curricular programming such as NCAA Division III athletics (Pioneers), the college museum, performing ensembles, and 500+ free campus events annually.

Product overview

Grinnell College is a private liberal arts college in Grinnell, Iowa, organized as a single integrated academic institution rather than a platform-plus-modules product portfolio. Its core academic offering centers on the open curriculum anchored by the First-Year Tutorial and the Academic Success Center (ASC, rebranded from Academic Advising in 2025), with ASC 101 (Scholars' Seminar) and the new Tutorial Plus video series extending metacognition-based learning support. Around this core, the college operates a constellation of named services and modules: Partners Learning Center (Partners and Pals programs), Level Up (Second Grinnell Year), SHAW Student Health and Wellness (including the Wayhaven AI wellbeing coach, WellTrack Connect, HealthiestYou, Togetherall, and ProtoCall crisis line), Writing/Reading/Speaking Center, Science Learning Center, DASIL, OISA, CRSSJ, CLS Careers/Life/Service, Title IX Program, BIRT Bias Incident Response, DEI Office, Emergency Fund for Students, and Digital Grinnell (institutional repository). Co-curricular offerings include Joe Rosenfield '25 Center, Harris Center, KDIC 88.5FM, Grinnell Forensics, the Grinnell Pioneers athletics program, Grinnell College Museum of Art, Grinnell Singers and Oratorio Society, the annual Grinnell Lecture, the Conard Environmental Research Area (CERA), and the Grinnell National Poll. The technical layer tying these together relies on integrations with Salesforce (academic alerts), Qualtrics/Maxient (forms and bias reporting), CollegeNET 25Live and LiveWhale (events and calendar), Microsoft 365 (bookings and SSO), Interfolio and ADP (hiring), College Board (net price calculator), and Concept3D/YouVisit (maps and tours).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Grinnell Pioneers: Athletics program of Grinnell College (NCAA Division III)
• Grinnell Science Project
• Academic Success Center (ASC)
• Joe Rosenfield '25 Center
• Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
• Student Health and Wellness (SHAW)

Products and services

• First-Year Tutorial

Quantifiable outcome

• 9:1 student-faculty ratio
• +2 more outcomes

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration25 records

AI capability3 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

22 partnerships are on record, tiered secondary articulation partner, strategic dual-degree partner, minor cooperative link, core web analytics provider, core admissions tooling partner, core campus calendar partner, core productivity partner, core mental health partner, supplementary health partner, core conduct-and-bias reporting partner, core faculty hiring partner and supplementary mental health partner.

• Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC)secondary articulation partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerArticulation agreement with Grinnell College to facilitate transfer of DMACC students into Grinnell undergraduate programs. Detailed terms are referenced via the Consumer Information page but not enumerated in the captured content.
• University of Iowasecondary articulation partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerArticulation agreement supporting transfer pathways between the University of Iowa and Grinnell College.
• California Institute of Technology (Caltech)strategic dual-degree partnerStrategic or Co-development Partner3-2 dual-degree program (Caltech 3-2 Program) allowing students to complete three years at Grinnell and two at Caltech, earning degrees from both institutions.
• Columbia Universitystrategic dual-degree partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerCombined Plan articulation allowing Grinnell students to apply to Columbia's combined engineering and liberal arts program.
• Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI)secondary articulation partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerArticulation agreement supporting transfer into Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute undergraduate programs.
• Washington University (in St. Louis)secondary articulation partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerDual Degree Program in engineering with Washington University.
• Central Collegeminor cooperative linkImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerCooperative link for faculty-position postings across Iowa-area colleges, allowing cross-listing of open positions.
• Coe Collegeminor cooperative linkImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerCooperative link for faculty-position postings across Iowa-area colleges.
• Cornell Collegeminor cooperative linkImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerCooperative link for faculty-position postings across Iowa-area colleges.
• Luther Collegeminor cooperative linkImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerCooperative link for faculty-position postings across Iowa-area colleges.
• Simpson Collegeminor cooperative linkImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerCooperative link for faculty-position postings across Iowa-area colleges.
• Wartburg Collegeminor cooperative linkImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerCooperative link for faculty-position postings across Iowa-area colleges.
• Google (Google Analytics)core web analytics providerTechnology or IntegrationGrinnell College uses Google Analytics, including Demographics and Interest Reporting, with IP-anonymization, to analyze site usage on www.grinnell.edu.
• College Board (Net Price Calculator)core admissions tooling partnerTechnology or IntegrationGrinnell uses College Board's Net Price Calculator hosted at npc.collegeboard.org/student/app/grinnell to support prospective-student affordability estimation.
• CollegeNet (25Live)core campus calendar partnerTechnology or IntegrationGrinnell uses 25Live by CollegeNet for event reservations and submission to its public calendar (events.grinnell.edu).
• Microsoft (Microsoft 365, SharePoint, OneDrive)core productivity partnerTechnology or IntegrationGrinnell runs on Microsoft 365 (login.microsoftonline.com) and SharePoint Online (grinco.sharepoint.com) for internal collaboration, academic advising, and HR systems.
• WellTrack Connect (ProtoCall)core mental health partnerTechnology or IntegrationProvides students with free virtual teletherapy appointments using flex credits (two free per academic year). Operates the 24/7 "Need to Talk?" crisis hotline via ProtoCall.
• HealthiestYou (Teladoc)supplementary health partnerTechnology or IntegrationProvides virtual therapy, coaching, digital programs, and crisis management at no cost for students on the Grinnell student health insurance plan.
• Maxientcore conduct-and-bias reporting partnerTechnology or IntegrationPowers Grinnell's bias incident reporting form and likely student conduct reporting via cm.maxient.com.
• Interfoliocore faculty hiring partnerTechnology or IntegrationHosts Grinnell's open faculty positions application portal at apply.interfolio.com/11893/positions.
• Togetherallsupplementary mental health partnerTechnology or IntegrationProvides Grinnell students an online peer-to-peer mental health and wellbeing support community.
• Wayhavensupplementary mental health partnerTechnology or IntegrationProvides a 24/7 AI-powered well-being coach trained on evidence-based wellness tools, available to Grinnell students.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Wellesley College: Highly selective private women's liberal arts college with comparable scale, faculty engagement model, and applicant profile. Competes with Grinnell for high-achieving prospective students in the Northeast.
• Amherst College: Highly selective private residential liberal arts college in Massachusetts with an open curriculum ethos, need-blind admissions, and a comparable student-faculty ratio. Closest direct peer to Grinnell in scale, selectivity, and pedagogical model.
• Williams College: Top-ranked private liberal arts college with tutorial-style pedagogy and a small, residential, discussion-based curriculum. Operates at a similar scale and selectivity tier as Grinnell and competes for the same applicant pool.
• Bowdoin College: Highly selective private liberal arts college in Maine with a strong need-based aid policy, open curriculum, and 9:1-class student-faculty ratio. Directly comparable to Grinnell in mission, scale, and admissions profile.
• Carleton College: Midwest-based private liberal arts college in Minnesota with a similar residential model, STEM strength, and strong pre-professional outcomes. Closest geographic peer to Grinnell and shares its cooperative academic culture.
• Pomona College: Claremont Colleges consortium member, highly selective private liberal arts college with comparable size, faculty engagement model, and applicant profile. Direct competitor for high-achieving applicants nationally.
• Swarthmore College: Highly selective private liberal arts college with honors-program rigor, small classes, and engineering plus liberal arts dual-degree options (paralleling Grinnell's Caltech 3-2 partnerships). Direct academic-model peer.
• Middlebury College: Private residential liberal arts college with strong language and international programs, comparable selectivity, and a need-based financial aid model. Competes with Grinnell for similar applicant segments.
• Oberlin College: Private liberal arts college with a distinctive conservatory, strong social-justice mission, and comparable residential scale. Comparable to Grinnell in mission and culture, though with a different geographic reach.
• Davidson College: Highly selective private liberal arts college with a strong honor-code tradition, residential model, and pre-professional outcomes focus. Comparable in scale, selectivity, and applicant profile to Grinnell.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/grinnellcollege
• YouTubeyoutube.com/grinnellcollege
• Facebookfacebook.com/16164303402
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/grinnell-college
• Instagraminstagram.com/grinnellcollege
• TikToktiktok.com/@grinnellcollege

Compliance9 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles16 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments1 record

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Grinnell College