Bethany College
Bethany, WV
Bethany College is a private, Disciples of Christ liberal arts college in Bethany, West Virginia, a rural area on the edge of a city or town, with 614 undergraduates. Psychology and education are its signature fields: together they make up 41% of its bachelor's degrees, three and a half times their share across the colleges we cover. 47% of students finish within six years, and former students who are working earn a median of $44,512 ten years after starting.
Bethany College admitted 1,473 of 2,435 applicants for the fall 2023 entering class (60.5%).
- Acceptance rate
- 60.5%
- Fall 2023 class
- Tuition and fees
- $36,765
- 2024–25 school year
- Paid after aid
- $18,605
- Average, students with aid
Every figure on this page is published by the college or a federal survey, compiled by GoodGoblin, and carries the source it came from. They describe the fall 2023 entering class, a read on the school, not a prediction about any one applicant.
What Bethany College is known for
Measured by the 104 bachelor's degrees it awarded in 2022–23, and what its graduates went on to earn.
Psychology
25.0%
of its bachelor's degrees: three and a half times the 7.2% share across the colleges we cover.
Education
16.3%
of its bachelor's degrees: about four times the 3.9% share across the colleges we cover.
- Psychology2524.0% of degrees
- Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas1211.5% of degrees
- Communication and Media Studies109.6% of degrees
- Social Work65.8% of degrees
- Business Administration, Management and Operations65.8% of degrees
- Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods54.8% of degrees
Source: the College Scorecard (U.S. Department of Education), field-of-study data. Degrees are bachelor's degrees awarded in 2022–23. Earnings are the median for 2017–18 and 2018–19 graduates, in 2024 dollars, working and not enrolled, four years after graduating. Shares across the colleges we cover count every bachelor's degree at the colleges with a page here.
The place
Where it is, how big it is, and how students live.
Setting
Rural, near a city or town
Bethany, WV
Undergraduates
614
Fall 2024
Type
Private, nonprofit
Baccalaureate college, arts and sciences focus
Living on campus
Half or more
of undergraduates live on campus
Students per faculty member
12 to 1
Fall 2024
International students
8%
of undergraduates, fall 2024
Source: the College Scorecard (U.S. Department of Education), including the Carnegie Classification and the federal locale code it publishes.
What stands out at Bethany College
Three things Bethany College published, ranked by how much each could change what you actually do, not by how impressive it looks. Every one describes a class that has already enrolled.
Bethany College reports that test scores are not considered at all.
That is the school’s own answer on the form it fills in every year. A score you send is not read as part of the decision here.
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
The admit rate fell from 91% to 60% between fall 2018 and fall 2023.
Both ends are measured rates for classes that have already enrolled: a rate that moved, not a forecast. The fall 2023 figure is the one at the top of this page.
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2018 to fall 2023
Families paid $18,605 on average after aid.
Averaged across students who received federal aid: the price after grants and scholarships, not the sticker price.
Source: the College Scorecard
Every figure, in full
The same measured fields on every one of these pages. Nothing is filled in where the school published nothing.
Acceptance rate
60.5%
1,473 admitted of 2,435 applicants
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
Where do you actually stand at Bethany College?
The figures on this page describe a class that already enrolled. GoodGoblin reads them against your own transcript, scores, activities and budget, then builds the balanced list, the essay plan and the deadline calendar around what it finds.
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What Bethany College costs
The published price first, then what students who received aid actually paid, by family income.
Tuition and fees for 2024–25 were $36,765, and the full cost of attendance, with housing, food and books, was $50,758. After grants and scholarships, students who received financial aid paid $18,605 a year on average.
Tuition and fees
$36,765
2024–25 school year
Full cost of attendance
$50,758
Tuition, fees, housing, food and books
Paid after aid
$18,605
Average, students who received aid
What students paid, by family income
Each bar is that figure as a share of the $50,758 full cost.
- Under $30k$14,315Typical public university: $10,013
- $30k–$48k$15,239Typical public university: $10,847
- $48k–$75k$17,641Typical public university: $13,703
- $75k–$110k$22,434Typical public university: $17,979
- Over $110k$27,214Typical public university: $22,475
Source: the federal College Scorecard. Tuition and cost of attendance are for the 2024–25 school year; colleges usually raise them each year. What students paid is the average net price for first-year students who received federal financial aid. Typical public university: the median across the 338 public universities on GoodGoblin, for in-state students, compiled by GoodGoblin from the same federal data.
Where it leads
Who finishes, who stays, and what they earn and owe afterwards.
Finish within six years
47%
Our colleges' median: 63%
Return for a second year
54%
Our colleges' median: 79%
Earnings after 10 years
$44,512
Our colleges' median: $57,440
Median debt at graduation
$27,000
Our colleges' median: $23,725
Source: the College Scorecard (U.S. Department of Education). Six-year completion describes students who started in fall 2018; second-year return describes students who started in fall 2023; earnings describe students who started in 2009–10 and 2010–11, measured in 2020 and 2021, in 2022 dollars; debt describes federal loans of students who graduated in fiscal years 2020 and 2021. Medians are across the 1,034 colleges with a page here.
How the rate has moved
Two measured admit rates from the federal survey, the years apart it reports them. A rate that moved, not a forecast.
Between fall 2018 and fall 2023 the admit rate fell from 91% to 60%.
What Bethany College says it weighs
The school's own words, from the form it fills in every year. Ranked as it ranks them.
- Course rigorrequired
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
- GPArequired
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
- Essayconsidered
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
- Recommendationsconsidered
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
- Class rankconsidered
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
Not considered
- Test scores
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
Essays on this application
1 essay prompt on the application: you would write it.
Published deadlines
Each date is read from the college's own materials and re-checked on a schedule.
- Rolling AdmissionJuly 26, 2027
Verified August 17, 2026 · Source
More colleges on the record
Each of these pages carries the same measured figures and sources.
Other colleges in West Virginia
Closest acceptance rates in the same state.
- University of Charleston64.5%
- Wheeling University75.2%
- West Virginia University85.1%
- Concord University89.6%
Colleges with a similar acceptance rate
Closest acceptance rates anywhere in the country.
The GoodGoblin College Data Report: five findings counted across 1,034 colleges ›
Build the list this school belongs on.
The figures on this page describe a class that already enrolled. GoodGoblin reads them against your own transcript, scores, activities and budget, then builds the balanced list, the essay plan and the deadline calendar around what it finds.
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