GRINNELL, Iowa, Nov. 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Grinnell College sophomore Jack Taylor smashed an NCAA basketball record Tuesday night by scoring 138 points in one game.

But at Grinnell—long recognized as one of the nation's best liberal arts colleges—138 isn't the only number that matters. In advance of the Grinnell College Pioneers' next game at 4 p.m. local time Sunday, Nov. 25 (watch live at http://pioneers.grinnell.edu/index.aspx?path=mbball), here are some other important Grinnell numbers.

Grinnell by the Numbers

Year Grinnell was founded: 1846

Number of times namesake Josiah B. Grinnell was purportedly told to "Go West, young man": 2
Abolitionist, U.S. Congressman and ordained Congregational minister Josiah B. Grinnell was the young man whom famed journalist Horace Greeley reportedly urged to "Go west, young man, go west."(Greeley later denied the attribution.) Grinnell established the town of Grinnell, Iowa, where he acted as a "conductor" on the Underground Railroad and sheltered John Brown after his Bloody Kansas raids. J.B. Grinnell convinced the founders of what was then known as Iowa College to relocate their school from Davenport to Grinnell, where it reopened as Grinnell College in 1861.

Students currently enrolled: 1,609

Students in the first-year class: 444

Students who applied for those 444 spots: 4,554

Number of states represented in the student body: 48

Number of other countries represented in the student body: 50

Entering class:

Percentage of entering students who graduated from high school in the top 10% of their class: Two-thirds

Percentage of entering students who graduated from public schools: Two-thirds

Percentage who are U.S. students of color: 24%

Percentage who are first-generation college students: 16%

Percentage who are international: 14%, from 28 countries

Average SAT score of the Fall 2012 entering class: 1,350

Student-faculty ratio: 9:1

Number of Grinnellians who are in courses that were chosen for them: 0 (there is no core curriculum)

Number of Grinnellians attending courses that they chose with faculty and staff advising: 100%

Percent of Grinnell students participating in study abroad: 60%

Grinnell's national rank in per capita Ph.D. production: 8th

Percentage of Grinnell students with 3.6 or higher GPA and 30 or higher MCATs who are admitted to medical school: 90%

Med school admit rates for comparably qualified students nationwide: 73%

Percent of domestic students with demonstrated financial need who receive financial aid:  100%

Percent of their demonstrated need met by the college: 100%

Number of accredited Iowa public and private institutions where students graduate with less student loan debt: 0

Number of Rhodes Scholars to have graduated from Grinnell: 14

Number of schools west of the Mississippi that enrolled women before Grinnell: 0 (Grinnell's first woman student graduated in 1857)

Number of schools west of the Mississippi that enrolled African-American students before Grinnell: 0 (Grinnell's first African-American student graduated in 1871)

Number of schools west of the Mississippi that played intercollegiate football before Grinnell: 0 (Grinnell played the University of Iowa in 1889 and won, 24–0.)

Contact: Stacey Schmeidel
Director of Media Relations
704/682-2629

SOURCE Grinnell College