McPherson College stands out for its commitment to supporting students through successful debt repayment, with graduates maintaining excellent loan repayment records.
The college provides access to private liberal arts education for students from diverse economic backgrounds, including substantial numbers of first-generation college students.
McPherson College is a small private nonprofit institution in Kansas that emphasizes personal attention and community engagement over maximum financial returns. As a close-knit liberal arts college, McPherson serves about 34% Pell Grant recipients and 31% first-generation students, providing access to higher education for students from diverse economic backgrounds. The college maintains a 52% six-year graduation rate, reflecting the challenges many small private institutions face in supporting students through degree completion.
While McPherson College doesn't rank among the top performers for earnings outcomes, it offers something different: an intimate educational environment where students receive individualized attention and develop close relationships with faculty and peers. Graduates earn a median of $52,084 ten years after enrollment, which places the institution around the middle of the national distribution for long-term earnings. The college's strength lies not in producing the highest earners, but in providing a supportive environment for students who thrive in smaller academic communities.
For families seeking the personal touch of a small private college in Kansas, McPherson represents a traditional liberal arts experience. The institution serves students who prioritize close faculty mentorship, small class sizes, and a tight-knit campus community over the research opportunities and career networks typically found at larger universities.
McPherson College's program portfolio reflects its liberal arts mission and small institutional size. As a close-knit college, McPherson focuses on providing broad-based education rather than specialized professional training in high-earning fields. The institution's approach emphasizes personal development, critical thinking, and community engagement over career-specific preparation for maximum earning potential.
The college's graduates typically enter careers in education, social services, ministry, and other fields that offer personal fulfillment alongside moderate earning potential. This pattern aligns with the values and mission of many small private liberal arts colleges, which prioritize holistic education and character development over purely economic outcomes. Students choosing McPherson generally value the close faculty relationships, small class sizes, and tight-knit community that characterize the liberal arts college experience.
While the college may not produce large numbers of high earners in fields like engineering, business, or technology, it serves students who seek a different kind of educational value. The emphasis on personal attention, mentorship, and community engagement provides benefits that extend beyond immediate financial returns, preparing graduates for meaningful careers in service-oriented professions and community leadership roles.
McPherson College graduates achieve moderate long-term earnings that reflect the institution's focus on liberal arts education rather than high-earning professional programs. Ten years after enrollment, graduates earn a median of $52,084, placing the college around the middle of the national distribution for earnings outcomes. While this represents solid middle-class earning potential, it falls somewhat below what similar students achieve at other institutions, with earnings running about $1,944 below expectations based on student characteristics and institutional factors.
The college's earnings profile reflects its liberal arts mission and small size, which limits the breadth of high-earning professional programs typically found at larger institutions. With only 24 graduates earning more than $75,000 annually in recent cohorts, McPherson's outcomes concentrate in the moderate-earning range rather than producing significant numbers of high earners. This pattern is common among small private liberal arts colleges that emphasize broad-based education over specialized professional training.
For students choosing McPherson College, the value proposition centers on educational experience rather than maximum financial returns. The intimate learning environment, close faculty relationships, and strong sense of community provide benefits that don't show up in earnings data but matter significantly for students who thrive in smaller academic settings. Graduates typically enter careers in education, social services, and other fields that offer personal fulfillment alongside moderate but stable earning potential.
McPherson College presents a mixed affordability picture typical of small private institutions. Low-income students pay about $20,869 annually after financial aid, while middle-income families face costs around $25,387 per year, and higher-income families pay approximately $28,232. These net prices place the college in the lower portion of the national affordability distribution, meaning families generally pay more than they would at many public institutions or larger private colleges with more substantial endowments.
The college's financial aid approach helps make private education accessible to students from diverse economic backgrounds, with about 34% of students receiving Pell Grants. However, the relatively high net prices across all income levels reflect the financial realities facing small private colleges, which lack the economies of scale and large endowments that enable more generous aid packages. Families choosing McPherson typically prioritize the benefits of small class sizes and personal attention over maximum affordability.
Debt levels at McPherson require careful consideration, with typical graduates carrying about $25,242 in federal student loans and families borrowing an average of $20,000 through Parent PLUS loans. While the college maintains a 0% federal loan default rate, indicating that graduates generally manage their debt successfully, the combination of moderate earnings and substantial borrowing means families should carefully assess their ability to handle the financial commitment required for a McPherson education.
Mcpherson College Hub Overview
Executive summary with admissions, cost, outcomes, and program analysis
