Clarke University Acceptance Rate, Admissions & Graduation

What kind of school it is

Clarke University is a private, nonprofit institution offering programs of four years or more. The federal system that classifies colleges and universities in the United States—Carnegie—places it among doctoral and professional universities, although it also reports graduate offerings primarily at the master’s level. This is an institutional profile, not a program catalog: it does not tell you whether the major your child wants is available there or whether it connects directly to a graduate program. You have to ask that program by program.

What it does show more clearly is the kind of college life students have. Clarke is classified as a small, highly residential four-year school: at the time of that measurement, at least half of its undergraduate students lived in institution-owned or institution-affiliated housing, and at least 80 out of every 100 attended full time. Living on campus is not the same as paying tuition—room and board are charged separately, and we will come back to that—but if your child imagines college life with a residence hall, dining hall, and walkable campus, this is that kind of school.

In another classification, Clarke also appears among institutions that enroll many transfer students. If your child is considering enrolling here after studying at another institution, this is a reason to investigate, not a guarantee: ask in writing which courses will count and which will not.

Clarke University is in Dubuque, Iowa, within the city’s metropolitan area. That does not tell you whether the campus is downtown or how to get there from where you live. If your child plans to live at home, the only way to know whether that is practical is to drive the route on a weekday at the actual time of the classes. A map never shows the real travel time.

And one thing is worth clarifying from the start: Clarke University has none of these three federal designations: it is not a historically Black college or university, a Tribal College or University, or a land-grant institution. Of the 3,012 colleges and universities in this directory, 138 do have at least one of those designations. Clarke’s absence from that list does not tell you which students it serves or how your child will feel there. Ask directly which cultural centers and student organizations exist today.

The size of the community

Clarke had 1,025 students enrolled in the most recent official count: 871 undergraduates and 154 graduate students. It is primarily an undergraduate institution and is medium-small in size. Compared with the 941 selective private four-year schools in this census, it is on the smaller side: seven out of ten schools in that group have more students.

What does its size mean for your child? Nothing by itself. Being large does not mean having more options, and being small does not mean providing more attention. Ask about the specific major, not the entire school.

Among undergraduate students, 11 out of every 100 are Hispanic or Latino—a small minority, although slightly above the median compared with similar schools. Adults ages 25 to 64 are few, at 7 out of every 100. The gender distribution is nearly even: 48 out of every 100 are women. And here is something worth knowing if your child would come from elsewhere: fewer than half of first-time students, 30 out of every 100, had reported permanent residence in Iowa. Most come from other states or countries, or their residence is unknown. That figure does not measure distance or travel costs; if this applies to your situation, build your budget around actual flights and trips, not the average.

If Latino students are few on this campus, that does not take the school off the list, but it is information worth investigating during a visit: what is available for Latino students, whether there is a student group or cultural center, and whether anyone in admissions speaks Spanish.

How the academic year works

Clarke organizes its academic year into semesters: two long terms of about 15 weeks each, with consistent dates for all students.

The school reported that it accepts credit for AP exams and what IPEDS calls credit for life experience—independent study, adult courses, work experience, portfolios, and prior licenses or certifications—as well as credit for military training. It also enrolls high school students in college courses for credit through a formal dual-enrollment program.

Here is a hard truth worth stating plainly: the school’s report that it accepts AP does not mean it awards credit for every exam. It does not say what scores are required or whether those credits count toward your child’s specific major. Ask for the equivalency evaluation in writing before enrolling. Do not budget for the savings until you have it in hand.

As for what students can study, Clarke awarded 140 bachelor’s degrees in the most recently reported year, distributed across 17 fields of study. No field dominates overwhelmingly: the largest, health professions, accounted for 21 out of every 100 degrees. Compared with similar schools, Clarke is in the quarter awarding the fewest bachelor’s degrees each year. With counts this small, the number can shift from one year to another: ask for the last three years of data for the exact program your child is interested in rather than treating a single year as the current program offering.

The student-to-instructional-staff ratio is 10 to 1, a low figure compared with similar schools. But be careful: this aggregate ratio does not show how many students are in each classroom or guarantee more attention per student. It is an institutional statistic, not a promise of small classes.

Clarke also reports structured opportunities: study abroad, a complete program that can be taken entirely during evenings or weekends, and several pathways to teacher certification, including state approval for initial certification.

How admission works

Here we need to separate two questions that are often mixed together: how difficult it is to be admitted and how difficult it is to meet the stated requirements.

Clarke does not have open admission. Of nine possible considerations, it marked three as required: the high school record, high school GPA, and an English-proficiency exam for applicants to whom it applies. If your child studied outside the United States or attended high school in Spanish, ask now whether that exam is required and what provides an exemption—it is one of those things families discover late.

The list of what is NOT considered is longer than the list of what is: class rank, completion of a specific college-preparatory program, letters of recommendation, a portfolio, work experience, and whether a family member attended the school. The personal essay or letters—at least one of the two—are marked as not required but considered if submitted.

The published undergraduate application fee is $0.

Now for the hard numbers. In the most recent cycle, Clarke received 3,087 applications and offered admission to 2,104 applicants. That is 68 out of every 100—neither a sure thing nor a lottery, and around the middle among similar schools.

But here is the number that really matters to understand: out of every 100 admitted students, only 9 enrolled. Put another way, out of every 11 students who received an acceptance, about one ended up attending. Do not read that as a mark against the school—the federal record does not say why each person made that decision—and do not let other people’s decisions tell you what the school will offer you. Wait for your own net-price offer. With that number in hand, you can decide whether this school stays on the list.

The SAT and ACT are optional: if submitted, they are considered; if not, the application remains active. In the most recent cohort, only 9 out of every 100 enrolled students submitted SAT scores—a sample of just 18 students—with scores between 480 and 525 in reading and writing and between 410 and 520 in mathematics. With such a small group, this is neither a threshold nor a guarantee; it is only contextual information.

Regarding transfers: out of every 100 students who entered Clarke in 2017 seeking a bachelor’s degree, 38 transferred to another school without completing their degree here. This is one of the highest proportions among similar schools in this census. The figure shows how many moved, not why—and the reason differs from household to household. Keep this in mind when comparing graduation rates later: a student who transfers is not counted as a Clarke graduate, even if that student completes a degree elsewhere.

How much it costs and how much you will actually pay

At Clarke University, among 40 first-time, full-time, credential-seeking students who received federal Title IV aid and whose EFC records showed family income below $30,000, the average net price was $23,570. Among 28 students in the same population with EFC family income from $48,001 to $75,000, it was $22,569; among 47 students with EFC family income above $110,000, it was $10,870. For dependent students, the band combines their parents’ income with their own.

The highest-income band, calculated using 47 students, ended with an average of $10,870, below the $23,570 calculated using 40 students in the lowest-income band. Among first-year students who received any grant or scholarship aid, the average was $25,692.

Among the 937 schools of the same type and control included in this census that reported this figure with the same time coverage, Clarke falls within the most expensive quarter for the lowest-income families. That does not mean you should rule it out. It means you should request the aid offer before deciding.

It is unusual for the highest-income band to be below the lowest-income band, and it does not mean your family will receive the same result. The income bands in this profile describe first-time, full-time, credential-seeking students who received federal Title IV aid; at public institutions, they use the in-state or in-district rate. The overall average for students receiving grant or scholarship aid, when shown, describes first-time, full-time, credential-seeking students who received federal, state, local, or institutional grants or scholarships. Run the net-price calculator on the school’s website using your actual numbers.

Aid and debt

93 out of every 100 degree-seeking students at Clarke receive some grant or scholarship aid that does not have to be repaid. Receiving something is the norm here. Among recipients, the average is $25,884 per year—a large number, but an average, not your offer: it includes people who received much more and people who received much less. 36 out of every 100 receive a Pell Grant, the federal aid for low-income families.

Now the other side. 72 out of every 100 Clarke undergraduate students received a federal student loan in the most recently reported year—a high proportion compared with similar schools. Among those who borrowed, the average was $6,675 that year. If your child borrowed a similar amount each year throughout the program’s four years, the total would be around $26,700, not including interest—and that calculation should be considered before the first signature, not at the end.

Financing with debt is common here. That does not determine whether your child will need it: the answer depends on your child’s own aid offer and the difference between the net price and what your family can pay. If the offer includes debt, request the estimated monthly payment before accepting anything. And remember that this average covers only the student’s federal loans in one year—it does not include loans parents may take out or the total debt owed upon graduation.

Clarke also reports offering a tuition payment plan, in case your family prefers to spread the cost across the academic year.

Campus life and support

Clarke has its own housing, with a reported capacity of 616 students, on or off campus. Living there is not required for everyone, but that does not show whether a specific program requires it. It also offers meal plans with a fixed number of meals per week. The availability of an option does not guarantee a bed or mean the plan is included: request the annual rate, application deadline, and whether a place is guaranteed or you will be placed on a waiting list, all in writing.

Regarding ROTC, Clarke did not mark any opportunity in its most recent report—neither the general option nor any branch. Among the four-year institutions in this census, 926 out of 1,786 did mark it; Clarke was not among them. That does not prove that no pathway exists: if it matters to your family, ask admissions directly before ruling it out.

Clarke competes in intercollegiate athletics and is affiliated with the NAIA, not the NCAA, with reported participation in football, basketball, baseball, and cross-country or track. If your child wants to play, contact the coach directly: ask whether there is a place on the team, which division they compete in, and whether that sport offers athletic scholarships.

The school offers distance education at the undergraduate and graduate levels, although in practice it is the exception: only 4 out of every 100 undergraduate students take all their classes through distance education. The library has employed staff, physical and digital collections, and interlibrary lending. Reported services also include combined academic and career counseling, employment support for students, participation in the Yellow Ribbon program for veterans, a dedicated point of contact for military families, and a webpage for disability services.

What happens to students who enroll

This is the section that most directly addresses every parent’s unspoken question: if my child enrolls here, how likely is my child to leave with a degree?

Retention. Of the 193 first-time, full-time students who entered in 2022, 130 were still enrolled or had already graduated one year later: 67 out of every 100. Compared with similar schools, this is a low proportion. Not appearing as retained does not mean someone gave up—the data does not distinguish among transferring, taking a break, working, or any other reason.

Graduation. Of the 162 first-time, full-time students who began bachelor’s-degree programs in 2017, 89 had graduated from Clarke within six years: 55 out of every 100. At four years, the figure falls to 44 out of every 100. Of the remainder of that cohort of 162 students, 62 transferred to another institution without completing a degree here, 1 student was still enrolled without graduating, and 10 no longer appeared in any enrollment record. Compared with similar schools, Clarke ranks below the midpoint of the group.

It is worth saying plainly: at Clarke, transferring before completing a degree happens to more than one-third of each entering cohort. That figure is not a judgment of the school’s quality—the data counts the movement, not the reason behind it—but it does warrant a direct question during a visit: why do so many leave, and where do they go?

Eight years. A more generous measure that follows students for longer: among 260 students who entered between 2015 and 2016, 54 out of every 100 had earned a degree or certificate from Clarke eight years later. Among Pell Grant recipients, the figure was nearly the same: 53 out of every 100. Compared with similar schools, it remains below the median.

None of these numbers predicts what will happen to your child. They are institutional averages for past cohorts, not an individual forecast. But they do raise a legitimate question to ask during a visit: what does the school do for a student who begins to struggle during the first semester? How often does that happen, and why?

What this means for your plan

You now know an important part of this decision: who Clarke University is according to what it reports to the federal government. You know its size, its calendar, how it admits students, its published price, how much a family ultimately pays based on income, how much aid it provides, how common debt is here, and what happens to students who enroll.

What this article cannot tell you is what only your family knows: what your child wants to study, how far away your child is willing to live, how comfortable your child would feel on a small, residential campus in Iowa, and how much your family can truly pay after seeing the aid offer with actual numbers.

Your child’s part is to investigate the program, visit if possible, and ask questions about the specific major. Your part is to read the aid offer carefully, compare the net price—not the published price—among the schools on the list, and ask the financial questions before the deadlines arrive. Neither of you should handle alone the part that belongs to the other.

Combine this information with what your child wants and what your family can afford. That is how a plan takes shape.

The information in this article comes from data reported by Clarke University to the U.S. Department of Education’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), primarily from the 2022-23 and 2023-24 cycles. Best College Aid does not represent Clarke University or any government agency; this article organizes public information to help you understand it.