College Viability Inspection Report

Bethel College-North Newton

Kansas · Private, not-for-profit

Bethel College-North Newton is a private, nonprofit institution in Kansas, enrolling 445 students as of 2024. It graduates 17% of students in four years, returns 62% of freshmen for a second year, and costs an average of $30,406 a year after grants and scholarships. Of the 9 inspection checks that could be evaluated, 5 are flagged: Retention, Graduation, Endowment, Cost vs. Completion, and Price vs. Outcomes. This report benchmarks Bethel College-North Newton's most recent reported year (2024) against 2,000+ U.S. colleges across three dimensions: student outcomes, financial health, and value for money. All figures are drawn from federal IPEDS filings and are reported without editorial judgment.

Bethel College-North Newton Inspection Flags

Student Outcomes
Financial Health
Value for Your Money

Inspection flags are nine independent checks across student outcomes, financial health, and cost-to-value that surface areas of a college's reported numbers worth a closer look. A triggered flag means the college's data met a specific threshold that students and families may want to ask about — for example, graduation rates slipping below a level, or tuition rising while outcomes decline. A clear flag means the threshold was not met. Flags are signals for further conversation, not verdicts.

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College Viability
Data Summary

Bethel College-North Newton — All Reported Indicators

Plain-text reference table of every metric and inspection flag for Bethel College-North Newton. Values reflect IPEDS-reported figures; percent changes reflect endpoint-to-endpoint 2020 → 2024 comparison; percentiles reflect 2024 national rank against four-year public and private nonprofit institutions. Cells marked "not reported" indicate the indicator was not present in IPEDS for this institution.

Student Outcomes

Metric2024 Value5-Yr % ChangeNational Percentile
Four-Year Graduation Rate17.0%-58.5%16th
Six-Year Graduation Rate44.0%-15.4%29th
Full-Time Retention Rate62.0%-11.4%15th
Pell Grant Six-Year Graduation Rate25.6%-26.9%14th
Pell-to-Non-Pell Graduation Gap19.7pp+3.9%88th
Pell Share of Cohort40.2%-26.3%54th

Financial Health

Metric2024 Value5-Yr % ChangeNational Percentile
Revenue-to-Expense Ratio1.47×+34.3%94th
Total FTE Enrollment445-1.1%20th
Endowment Value$36.9M+96.5%42nd
Net Assets (End of Year)$59.0M+57.9%40th

Value for Money

Metric2024 Value5-Yr % ChangeNational Percentile
Instructional Spending %22.5%-15.8%15th
Student Support Spending %34.8%+13.9%98th
Administrative Spending %20.5%-1.8%60th
Instruction+Support to Admin Ratio2.80×+1.9%52nd
Average Net Price$30,406+33.2%87th
Net Price: $0-30K Income$35,147+71.2%98th
Net Price: $30K-48K Income$32,633+69.9%96th
Net Price: $48-75K Income$33,019+49.5%96th
Net Price: $75K-110K Income$31,293+27.3%90th
Net Price: $110K+ Income$32,270+27.1%77th

Inspection Flags

FlagSectionStatus
Retention Below 80%
Bethel College-North Newton's retention rate fell below 80% in 5 of 5 reported years — triggering the 3-of-5 threshold.
Student OutcomesTriggered
Four-Year Graduation Rate Below 50%
Bethel College-North Newton's 4-year graduation rate fell below 50% in 4 of 5 reported years — triggering the 3-of-5 threshold.
Student OutcomesTriggered
Pell Gap Exceeds 10 Points
Bethel College-North Newton's Pell graduation gap exceeded 10pp in 1 of 3 eligible years — below the 3-of-5 trigger threshold.
Student OutcomesCleared
Revenue-to-Expense Below 1.0
Bethel College-North Newton's ratio fell below 1.0 in 1 of 5 reported years — below the 3-of-5 trigger threshold.
Financial HealthCleared
Enrollment Declined 5% or More
Bethel College-North Newton's total enrollment fell from 450 to 445 students between 2020 and 2024 (-1.1%) — less than the 5% decline that triggers this flag.
Financial HealthCleared
Endowment Under $50M or Growth Under 15%
Bethel College-North Newton's endowment is $36.9M, under the $50 million threshold. A smaller endowment leaves less cushion for scholarships and for tough budget years, even though it grew +96.5% over the period.
Financial HealthTriggered
High Cost, Low Completion
Bethel College-North Newton costs more than the national median AND graduates students at below-median rates — both conditions for this flag are met.
Value for MoneyTriggered
Spending on Students Below the National Median
Bethel College-North Newton's ratio fell below the national median of $2.75 in 1 of 5 reported years — below the 3-of-5 trigger threshold.
Value for MoneyCleared
Rising Price, Falling Outcomes
Both conditions were met: Bethel College-North Newton's net price rose while the 6-year graduation rate declined between 2020 and 2024 — a prompt to ask whether tuition increases are translating into stronger student outcomes.
Value for MoneyTriggered