Early Decision at Seven Midwest Liberal Arts Colleges: Smaller Edges and Higher Prices in Ohio (2026)

Kenyon, Carleton and Grinnell each admitted about a third of their Early Decision applicants in their latest filings: 34.8%, 34.6% and 34.2%. Read that number alone and the three rounds look the same.

Then look at everyone else. Kenyon admitted 29.7% of them, Carleton 20.2%, Grinnell 12.7%. So the same early rate was worth about 5 points at Kenyon, 14 at Carleton and 21 at Grinnell. Run the same comparison across the seven Midwest liberal arts colleges with an early round big enough to compare, and the region splits along state lines.

The seven

The figures are from each college's 2025–26 Common Data Set, except Grinnell's, which are from 2024–25. "Everyone else" is every first-year applicant outside the Early Decision round, and "points added" is the early rate minus that rate; both are our arithmetic from the colleges' counts.

In Ohio, the early round added the least

At Oberlin, Denison and Kenyon, the binding round added 5 to 7 points. At the four colleges in Minnesota and Iowa, it added 12 to 21.

Denison makes the point most clearly. Its early round was the largest of the seven, 1,589 applicants, and it admitted 24.8% of them against 18.8% of everyone else. A binding promise to Denison moved the rate by about six points. A binding promise to Grinnell, in Iowa, moved it by 21.

And Ohio cost more at every income level

These are College Scorecard averages for 2023–24, for families who received federal aid. The Scorecard reports five income bands, and in all five, each of the three Ohio colleges averaged more than each of the four in Minnesota and Iowa.

The gap is large for the families with the least. Under $30,000, the Ohio three averaged $16,656 to $18,774 a year, and the other four $7,881 to $13,772. In the $48,001–$75,000 band it is larger still: Oberlin's average was more than twice Grinnell's or Carleton's. By $75,001–$110,000 the groups nearly meet: Denison's average was $312 above Macalester's.

The filings don't explain the split, and we won't guess at it. Put the two halves together, though, and the trade at the Ohio colleges is plain: a binding promise that buys about five to seven points, in exchange for giving up a spring comparison, at colleges that averaged more at every income level.

Grinnell: the largest edge, on an older filing

Grinnell's early round admitted 34.2% against 12.7%, about 2.7 times the rate, the largest gap of the seven. Its numbers are a cycle older than the others', so treat the size of the gap as approximate; the direction matches the rest of the Minnesota and Iowa group.

The universities

Three Midwest universities with early rounds we can compare run Early Decision too, and we've covered each: Northwestern, WashU and Case Western Reserve, whose early round admitted a lower rate than everyone else. Case Western is in Ohio as well, and its average prices sit with the Ohio colleges here, above all four Minnesota and Iowa colleges in every band.

The University of Chicago, DePauw and Earlham run Early Decision but don't report the round's numbers separately, and Michigan's round is too recent to show up in a filing yet. Albion, Wabash, Augustana, Lawrence, Butler and the Illinois Institute of Technology report early rounds of fewer than 400 applicants, too small for us to compare.

Before you sign

If an Ohio college on this list is your first choice, its filing shows the binding round moving the admit rate only a few points, so the case for applying early has to come from somewhere else: certainty in December, or a college you'd choose at any price. Run its net price calculator first. If one of the Minnesota or Iowa colleges is your first choice, the early round is worth more there, and the averages were lower.

Where the numbers come from

Early Decision applicants and admits are from section C21 of each college's Common Data Set, and all first-year applicants and admits from section C1 of the same filing. Net prices are College Scorecard averages for 2023–24, for families who received federal aid. Deadlines are for students entering in fall 2027, read from the colleges' admissions pages or the Common App in September 2026; colleges sometimes move them, so check before you submit.

Before you sign anything, check what your first-choice college published, and your estimate there, free. The full answer for your whole list is the paid document.