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Reed College

Portland, OR

Reed College is a private liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon, a large city, with 1,320 undergraduates. Social sciences and languages are its signature fields: together they make up 29% of its bachelor's degrees, about three times their share across the colleges we cover. 72% of students finish within six years, and former students who are working earn a median of $62,927 ten years after starting.

Reed College admitted 2,728 of 10,045 applicants for the fall 2023 entering class (27.2%).

Acceptance rate
27.2%
Fall 2023 class
Tuition and fees
$69,350
2024–25 school year
Paid after aid
$33,013
Average, students with aid
ACT, middle 50%
29–34

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 Reed College is known for

Measured by the 309 bachelor's degrees it awarded in 2022–23, and what its graduates went on to earn.

Social sciences

18.4%

of its bachelor's degrees: two and a half times the 8.0% share across the colleges we cover.

Languages

10.7%

of its bachelor's degrees: about ten times the 1.1% share across the colleges we cover.

  • Research and Experimental Psychology247.8% of degrees
  • Computer and Information Sciences206.5% of degrees
  • Biology206.5% of degrees
  • Linguistic, Comparative, and Related Language Studies and Services196.1% of degrees
  • English Language and Literature185.8% of degrees
  • Mathematics165.2% 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

Large city

Portland, OR

Undergraduates

1,320

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

9 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 Reed College

Two things Reed 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.

Scores sent1 of 2

48% of the enrolled class sent an SAT.

The SAT band on this page describes that share of the class, not all of it. Another 23% sent an ACT. Reed College files test scores under “considered”.

Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023

Cost2 of 2

Families paid $33,013 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

27.2%

2,728 admitted of 10,045 applicants

Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023

SAT, middle 50%

Reading 670–760Math 630–750

Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023

ACT, middle 50%

29–34

Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023

Enrolled students who sent an SAT

48%

Counted per test: a student may send both.

Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023

Enrolled students who sent an ACT

23%

Counted per test: a student may send both.

Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023

Where do you actually stand at Reed 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 Reed College costs

The published price first, then what students who received aid actually paid, by family income.

Tuition and fees for 2024–25 were $69,350, and the full cost of attendance, with housing, food and books, was $86,376. After grants and scholarships, students who received financial aid paid $33,013 a year on average.

Tuition and fees

$69,350

2024–25 school year

Full cost of attendance

$86,376

Tuition, fees, housing, food and books

Paid after aid

$33,013

Average, students who received aid

What students paid, by family income

Each bar is that figure as a share of the $86,376 full cost.

  • Under $30k$12,674Typical public university: $10,013
  • $30k–$48k$12,514Typical public university: $10,847
  • $48k–$75k$14,513Typical public university: $13,703
  • $75k–$110k$23,421Typical public university: $17,979
  • Over $110k$46,711Typical 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

72%

Our colleges' median: 63%

Return for a second year

88%

Our colleges' median: 79%

Earnings after 10 years

$62,927

Our colleges' median: $57,440

Median debt at graduation

$21,500

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.

What Reed College says it weighs

The school's own words, from the form it fills in every year. Ranked as it ranks them.

  • Essayrequired

    Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023

  • Course rigorrequired

    Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023

  • GPArequired

    Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023

  • Recommendationsrequired

    Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023

  • Test scoresconsidered

    Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023

  • Class rankconsidered

    Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023

Not considered

  • Legacy

    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.

  • Early ActionNovember 1, 2026

    Verified October 10, 2026 · Source

  • Early DecisionNovember 1, 2026

    Verified October 10, 2026 · Source

  • Early Decision 2January 15, 2027

    Verified October 10, 2026 · Source

  • Regular DecisionJanuary 15, 2027

    Verified October 10, 2026 · Source

More colleges on the record

Each of these pages carries the same measured figures and sources.

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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