Bethany College

Private · Moderately Selective · KS

Photo: Swampyank (CC BY-SA 3.0)

School data & stats

TypePrivate

LocationKS · Midwest

SettingRural

Undergrads569

Student:faculty12:1

Outcomes

4-yr grad rate28.2%

6-yr grad rate35.7%

Drop-out rate57.5%

Study abroad—

Cost

In-state tuition$33k

Out-of-state tuition$33k

Application fee—

Community

Racial diversity53.1%

Gender diversity33.6%

International2.1%

IdentityEvangelical Lutheran Church

Overview

Bethany College is a small private Lutheran college in Lindsborg, Kansas, a town known as 'Little Sweden' for its Swedish immigrant heritage, which the college shares and helps sustain. It combines a liberal arts core with a longstanding identity built around music and the arts.

Academics

Music is Bethany's signature strength, most visibly through the Messiah Festival of the Arts, a choral and orchestral tradition performed continuously since 1882 and among the oldest oratorio festivals in the country. Art and education are also established programs, and music students benefit from a performance tradition few small colleges can match.

Campus & student life

Lindsborg's Swedish-American heritage — annual festivals, Scandinavian architecture and shops downtown — gives the town and college a character not found elsewhere in Kansas. The campus is small and close-knit, with athletics and music ensembles serving as major social anchors.

After graduation

Music and education graduates commonly go on to teaching, church music direction, and performance, helped by a small but devoted alumni network concentrated in the Midwest.

Worth knowing

The Messiah Festival is a genuine point of institutional pride that draws performers and audiences well beyond the student body, and prospective music students should know Bethany's program is built around that century-plus tradition specifically.

bethanylb.edu ↗

Admissions

Acceptance rate56%

Enrolled mid-50%1080

Test policynot used

Rec letters0

Deadlines (2026–27 cycle)

AdmissionRolling

Applying