Amherst College vs Union College

Amherst College and Union College, both esteemed liberal arts institutions, offer distinct educational experiences. Amherst, known for its rigorous academics and vibrant intellectual community, boasts an acceptance rate of 13.2% and a graduation rate of 94.4%. Union, with its focus on experiential learning and strong alumni network, has an acceptance rate of 29.4% and a graduation rate of 88.6%. While Amherst's student body is predominantly White (56.4%) and female (54.6%), Union's student body is more diverse, with a larger proportion of students identifying as Asian (13.6%) and Hispanic (11.4%). Explore the detailed comparison table below to discover more about these colleges' differences in popular majors, financial aid, and other key aspects, helping you make an informed decision about your higher education journey.

	Amherst College	Union College
Overview
Location	Amherst, Massachusetts	Schenectady, New York
Campus setting	Suburb: Large	City: Small
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Private (Non Profit)	Private (Non Profit)
Calendar system	Semester	Trimester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
Students retention rate	98.0%	91.0%
Common app member	Yes	Yes
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	8.7%	47.0%
Application fees	$60	$60
SAT range	1370 - 1550	1270 - 1450
ACT range	32 - 34	28 - 32
Students submitting SAT score	36.0%	37.0%
Students submitting ACT score	31.0%	16.0%
Total number of applicants	13,999	7,470
Total number of admissions given out	1,224	3,513
Admitted students who chose to enroll	515	565
Yield rate	42.1%	16.1%
Test scores (SAT/ACT)	N/A	N/A
High school GPA	Not required	Required
Recommendation letters	Required	Required
High school transcript	Not required	Not required
English proficiency test (e.g. TOEFL)	Required	Required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	$80,050	$77,385
Average net price	$18,809	$39,101
Tuition	$60,700	$61,308
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $8,700 Meal plan: $7,400	Room/dormitory: $8,370 Meal plan: $6,828
Available payment plans	Tuition payment plan	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	61.0% Average amount $58,644	87.0% Average amount $36,604
Students receiving federal student loan	10.0% Average amount $5,233	48.0% Average amount $5,087
Students taking out private loans	3.0% Average amount $16,803	14.0% Average amount $20,017

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	1,971 Men 48.6% Women 51.4%	2,096 Men 54.9% Women 45.1%
Graduate students	N/A	N/A
Racial/ethnic diversity	Moderate	Low
Out-of-state students	N/A	N/A
International students	10.4%	9.8%
Campus local/setting	Suburb: Large	City: Small
Dormitory capacity	2,000	2,049
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	New York California New Jersey Connecticut Pennsylvania	N/A

Academics
Popular study areas	Physical Science Social Sciences Mathematics and Statistics Biological and Biomedical Sciences Ethnic Studies	Social Sciences Engineering Biological and Biomedical Sciences Psychology Liberal Arts
Students to faculty ratio	7:1	9:1
Institutional accreditation	New England Commission on Higher Education	Middle States Commission on Higher Education

Outcome
Graduation rate	92.4%	84.5%
Dropout rate	2.5%	14.6%
Transferred out	3.6%	0.2%
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Economics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $78,775 Year 2: $74,576 Year 3: $94,870 Mathematics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $64,970 Year 2: $67,660 Year 3: $85,992 History (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $43,271 Year 2: $74,576 Year 3: $84,030 Area Studies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: N/A Year 3: $53,743 Political Science and Government (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $51,419 Year 2: $48,432 Year 3: $46,160 English Language and Literature, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $27,744 Year 2: $33,993 Year 3: $36,173 Ethnic, Cultural Minority, Gender, and Group Studies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $36,896 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Computer Science (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $96,310 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $67,101 Year 3: N/A Legal Research and Advanced Professional Studies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $37,208 Year 3: N/A	Mechanical Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $63,637 Year 2: $67,812 Year 3: $76,098 Economics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $50,348 Year 2: $58,673 Year 3: $74,456 Biology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $36,171 Year 2: $41,565 Year 3: $54,902 Psychology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $36,157 Year 2: $35,060 Year 3: $47,142 Political Science and Government (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $42,375 Year 2: $34,081 Year 3: $44,570 Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $41,903 Year 2: $39,585 Year 3: $41,845 Computer and Information Sciences, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $76,460 Year 3: N/A Biomedical/Medical Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $59,124 Year 3: N/A Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $63,392 Year 3: N/A English Language and Literature, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $20,824 Year 3: N/A

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Amherst College vs Union College

Amherst College

Union College

Overview

Admission

Tuition and Fees

Financial Aid

Students and Campus

Academics

Outcome

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