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School data & stats
Outcomes
Cost
Community
Overview
Augustana College is a private liberal arts college in Rock Island, Illinois, part of the Quad Cities, founded by Swedish Lutheran immigrants and still affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Its campus sits on a wooded bluff above the Mississippi River, with Old Main and other early buildings reflecting its Scandinavian founding. Augustana pairs a traditional liberal arts core with pre-professional strength, drawing students mostly from the Midwest.
Academics
Geology is an unusually strong undergraduate program for a college this size, with real fieldwork opportunities, and pre-health advising feeds a solid record of admission to medical and other health-professional programs. Music is a signature strength as well, with the Augustana Choir and band carrying a long touring and recording tradition. Study away participation is high, supported by dedicated international education staff, and class sizes stay small across departments.
Campus & student life
The bluff-top campus overlooking the Mississippi gives Augustana a more scenic, self-contained feel than its Quad Cities surroundings might suggest, with Rock Island's small downtown and the wider Quad Cities area, spanning both Illinois and Iowa, nearby for students who want off-campus options. Athletics, as the Vikings, compete in NCAA Division III, and Greek life has a real but not dominant presence.
Getting in
Augustana reviews applications holistically, with essays and letters of recommendation given real weight alongside coursework rigor. The college has a reputation for generous merit scholarships that reward strong students without requiring a separate application, which shapes its applicant pool as much as selectivity does.
After graduation
Health professions, education, and business draw large shares of graduates, with the geology and sciences programs feeding graduate school placement at a notably strong rate for the college's size. Alumni networks concentrate in the Midwest, especially Chicago and the Quad Cities.
Worth knowing
Augustana's Swedish Lutheran heritage still shows up in campus traditions and its choir's identity, even though the student body and curriculum are broadly secular today. Merit aid is a significant part of how the college competes for students.
Admissions
Deadlines (2026–27 cycle)
Applying
augustana.edu ↗High school coursework
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