Knox College

In the 2027 US News National Liberal Arts Colleges ranking, Knox College placed 85th, down from 66th in 2020. Admission has become comparatively accessible, with the college accepting 70.8% of applicants in 2025, a figure higher than 55% of peer schools in a comparison group of closely ranked private liberal arts colleges. However, Knox faces challenges in drawing admitted applicants to actually enroll. Its 2025 yield rate stood at 11.5%, higher than only 17% of peer schools. This indicates that a large majority of accepted students decide to go elsewhere. For prospective applicants, this pattern suggests that gaining admission is manageable for qualified candidates, but the institution must compete vigorously against peer liberal arts colleges to secure incoming students as its position on national ranking lists continues to slip.

Knox College has an admission test policy that is optional, where test scores are considered if submitted. Applicants who choose to submit standardized scores generally present competitive credentials, though most students enroll without them: in 2025, 27% of entering students submitted SAT scores, while a much smaller share submitted ACT scores. For score submitters in 2025, Knox reported a median SAT score of 1320, which is higher than 73% of peer schools among similarly ranked private liberal arts colleges. In the same year, ACT composite scores spanned from 21 to 32. In terms of academic preparation, high school records from the 2020-2021 entering class show that students were admitted with a range of secondary school performance, predominantly across A and B grade levels. For prospective applicants, these figures mean that while submitting solid standardized scores can confirm academic readiness, strong high school coursework remains the central element for admission.

Academic majors at Knox College show a balanced distribution without heavy concentration in a single discipline. In 2025, the college awarded 268 bachelor degrees across its programs, with the top three majors together representing 25% of all graduates. The largest undergraduate fields were General Biology, Computer Science, and General Business Administration, followed closely by Creative Writing and Psychology. There are no major-specific national rankings available for Knox's degree programs, so programmatic strength is best viewed through student enrollment and post-graduation earnings. International students made up a substantial share of graduates in technical and business subjects like Computer Science and Business Administration, while having no representation in Biology. In terms of early-career compensation, 2023 earnings data show that graduates in Business Administration, Management and Operations achieved median earnings of $52,842 one year after graduation, leading all reported academic fields. Students choosing a major at Knox will find popular pathways in the sciences, computing, and administrative fields that offer varied financial outcomes.

Knox College educates a compact undergraduate student body characterized by a prominent international presence alongside a comparatively small Asian cohort. Within the incoming first-year undergraduate class in 2025, international students form the largest demographic group at 150 students, accounting for 37.7% of the cohort. Continuing undergraduate classes also maintain a substantial overseas enrollment, while White and Hispanic students form the main domestic populations. In contrast, domestic Asian representation remains limited across classes. Specifically, Asian students total 11 incoming first-years, representing 2.8% of the entering group, with continuing classes similarly showing modest counts. Overall, first-year and continuing undergraduates make up nearly all undergraduate enrollment, accompanied by a small group of transfer students. For families evaluating the campus environment, Knox provides an academic setting where global perspectives are part of daily student life, though applicants looking for an extensive Asian peer community will find a relatively small representation.

The student body at Knox College is composed almost entirely of traditional college-aged undergraduates. In 2025, students aged 18 to 19 made up 48.3% of the undergraduate population, while those aged 20 to 21 accounted for 34.6%. Another 13.5% of undergraduates fell into the 22 to 24 age bracket. With zero graduate students enrolled at the institution, campus academic and residential life centers entirely around young adults progressing straight from secondary education through their baccalaureate studies. This concentrated age profile creates a shared, continuous undergraduate experience where extracurricular organizations, campus housing, and classroom discussions are oriented around students in their late teens and early twenties.

Knox College maintains an unusually large international student community for a private liberal arts institution, and its global presence has grown substantially. In 2025, the college enrolled 304 undergraduate international students, representing 26.8% of the student body. This proportion is higher than 97% of 30 closely ranked private liberal arts colleges. Knox operates no graduate programs, meaning all international students study at the undergraduate level. Among 2025 bachelor degree recipients, international students accounted for 17.5% of total graduates. Rather than spreading evenly across all majors, international graduates show clear concentrations in vocational and technical fields. International students earned significant shares of degrees in Computer Science and General Business Administration, while having zero representation among graduates in Biology and Elementary Education. For prospective international applicants, Knox offers an established peer cohort, particularly within computational and business-related curricula.

Applicants exploring regional institutions around Galesburg have several distinctive undergraduate options in western Illinois and neighboring Iowa. Augustana College is a private liberal arts college located 39.7 kilometers away, ranked 91st among national liberal arts colleges. For students seeking a mid-sized comprehensive university, Bradley University sits 43 kilometers away and ranks 169th among national universities. Those interested in larger public research institutions can evaluate the University of Iowa, ranked 100th nationally at a distance of 78.2 kilometers, or Illinois State University, which ranks 219th and is situated 78.4 kilometers from campus.

Campus safety at Knox College is characterized primarily by substance-related disciplinary violations rather than widespread criminal offenses. In 2025, the college recorded a crime rate per 1,000 students of 25.5. Over the three-year period from 2023 to 2025, alcohol-related disciplinary referrals represented the largest category of reported incidents by a wide margin, totaling 88 cases. Drug policy enforcement resulted in a smaller number of disciplinary referrals and arrests over those same years. Property crime remained low, with 13 reported thefts between 2023 and 2025, while personal offenses such as stalking and rape each occurred in low single digits. Because safety reports are dominated by institutional conduct referrals for underage drinking, the data suggest that campus security operations focus heavily on residential policy enforcement rather than serious community crime.