Principia College is a private, nonprofit institution in Illinois, enrolling 333 students as of 2024. It graduates 60% of students in four years, returns 83% of freshmen for a second year, and costs an average of $18,248 a year after grants and scholarships. Of the 8 inspection checks that could be evaluated, 2 are flagged: Enrollment and Tuition Allocation. This report benchmarks Principia College'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.
Principia College Inspection Flags
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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Student Outcomes
How students at Principia College complete their degrees, benchmarked against U.S. four-year colleges.
College Financial Health
How financially stable Principia College is, benchmarked against U.S. four-year colleges.
Value for Your Money
How Principia College spends its budget and what families pay, benchmarked against U.S. four-year colleges.
How Much Will This Cost for Your Income Level?
Net price is the average annual out-of-pocket cost for first-time, full-time undergraduate students — tuition + fees + room & board, minus the grants and scholarships the institution reports providing to students in each income bracket. Select your household income below to see the reported figure for that group.
Principia College — All Reported Indicators
Plain-text reference table of every metric and inspection flag for Principia College. 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
| Metric | 2024 Value | 5-Yr % Change | National Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| Four-Year Graduation Rate | 60.0% | +1.7% | 78th |
| Six-Year Graduation Rate | 77.0% | +2.7% | 86th |
| Full-Time Retention Rate | 83.0% | -3.5% | 69th |
| Pell Grant Six-Year Graduation Rate | not reported | not reported | not reported |
| Pell-to-Non-Pell Graduation Gap | not reported | not reported | not reported |
| Pell Share of Cohort | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0th |
Financial Health
| Metric | 2024 Value | 5-Yr % Change | National Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue-to-Expense Ratio | 2.01× | +318.5% | 99th |
| Total FTE Enrollment | 333 | -14.6% | 16th |
| Endowment Value | $592.9M | +58.6% | 89th |
| Net Assets (End of Year) | $702.4M | +27.8% | 87th |
Value for Money
| Metric | 2024 Value | 5-Yr % Change | National Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| Instructional Spending % | 22.6% | -18.9% | 15th |
| Student Support Spending % | 20.8% | +13.4% | 79th |
| Administrative Spending % | 25.5% | -4.7% | 75th |
| Instruction+Support to Admin Ratio | 1.70× | -1.4% | 22nd |
| Average Net Price | $18,248 | +16.8% | 47th |
| Net Price: $0-30K Income | not reported | not reported | not reported |
| Net Price: $30K-48K Income | not reported | not reported | not reported |
| Net Price: $48-75K Income | not reported | not reported | not reported |
| Net Price: $75K-110K Income | not reported | not reported | not reported |
| Net Price: $110K+ Income | not reported | not reported | not reported |
Inspection Flags
| Flag | Section | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Retention Below 80% Principia College's retention rate fell below 80% in 1 of 5 reported years — below the 3-of-5 trigger threshold. | Student Outcomes | Cleared |
| Four-Year Graduation Rate Below 50% Principia College's 4-year graduation rate stayed at or above 59% in all 5 reported years — above the 50% threshold. | Student Outcomes | Cleared |
| Pell Gap Exceeds 10 Points Not enough reported data for this flag — only 0 of 5 years had a Pell cohort of 50+ students. | Student Outcomes | Not Evaluated |
| Revenue-to-Expense Below 1.0 Principia College's ratio fell below 1.0 in 1 of 5 reported years — below the 3-of-5 trigger threshold. | Financial Health | Cleared |
| Enrollment Declined 5% or More Principia College's total enrollment fell from 390 to 333 students between 2020 and 2024 (-14.6%) — a decline of 5% or more. | Financial Health | Triggered |
| Endowment Under $50M or Growth Under 15% Principia College's endowment is $592.9M and grew +58.6% between 2020 and 2024 — clearing both the $50 million size threshold and the 15% growth threshold. | Financial Health | Cleared |
| High Cost, Low Completion Principia College costs less than the national median AND graduates students at above-median rates — neither condition for this flag is met. | Value for Money | Cleared |
| Spending on Students Below the National Median Principia College spends $1.70 on instruction and student support per $1 of admin (2024) — below the national median of $2.75 in 5 of 5 reported years. | Value for Money | Triggered |
| Rising Price, Falling Outcomes Either net price did not rise or the graduation rate did not decline between 2020 and 2024 — flag not triggered. | Value for Money | Cleared |