News

The Princeton Review has named St. Olaf College in the “Best Value Colleges for 2027,” a prestigious college list that measures the quality of education, support services, and affordability. 

At St. Olaf, the college meets 100 percent of the demonstrated financial need of students and their families. The average first-year need-based financial aid award is $52,186, and 99 percent of all students on campus received financial aid through a merit scholarship or a need-based grant. The college guarantees a minimum of $41,000 in scholarships and grants to families with annual income under $325,000. 

The Piper Center for Vocation and Career at St. Olaf provides a wide array of internship and workplace-learning opportunities –– connecting students to potential employers well before graduation. Ninety-one percent of students at St. Olaf have participated in an internship, undergraduate research and field work, civic engagement, or similar experiential learning on campus. In addition to the support provided by the Piper Center, opportunities are available through the college’s Collaborative Undergraduate Research and Inquiry (CURI) program and the Svoboda Center for Civic Engagement. 

The Princeton Review chose 209 schools for its “Best Value Colleges for 2027” list. The selections were based on data from the company’s surveys of administrators at more than 650 colleges in 2025–2026, its surveys of students attending the schools, and data from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard on school alumni career and salary statistics. 

In all, The Princeton Review crunched more than 40 data points to tally ROI (Return on Investment) ratings of the colleges, which informed the selection of the schools and the project’s seven categories of ranking lists.

Just last month, St. Olaf ranked in the Top 10 for Best Classroom Experience (#8) and Great Financial Aid (#9), and was named to the “Best in the Midwest” in the 2027 edition of The Princeton Review: The Best 392 Colleges.