Barnard College vs Swarthmore

Barnard College and Swarthmore College, both highly regarded liberal arts institutions, offer distinct educational experiences. Barnard, located in the vibrant heart of New York City, boasts an acceptance rate of 12%, while Swarthmore, nestled in the serene suburbs of Philadelphia, has an acceptance rate of 9%. Barnard's student body is predominantly female, while Swarthmore's is coeducational. Both colleges offer a diverse range of majors, with popular choices at Barnard including social sciences, humanities, and pre-professional programs, and popular choices at Swarthmore including engineering, natural sciences, and social sciences. Barnard's graduation rate is 91%, while Swarthmore's is 94%. To help you make an informed decision about which college is the right fit for you, we've compiled a comprehensive comparison table that delves into these and other key differences in greater detail.

	Barnard College	Swarthmore College
Overview
Location	New York, New York	Swarthmore, Pennsylvania
Campus setting	City: Large	Suburb: Large
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Private (Non Profit)	Private (Non Profit)
Calendar system	Semester	Semester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
Students retention rate	97.0%	95.0%
Common app member	Yes	Yes
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	11.5%	7.8%
Application fees	$75	$60
SAT range	1425 - 1550	1430 - 1560
ACT range	32 - 34	33 - 35
Students submitting SAT score	30.0%	39.0%
Students submitting ACT score	21.0%	21.0%
Total number of applicants	10,395	13,012
Total number of admissions given out	1,192	1,013
Admitted students who chose to enroll	769	454
Yield rate	64.5%	44.8%
Test scores (SAT/ACT)	N/A	N/A
High school GPA	Not required	Not required
Recommendation letters	Required	Required
High school transcript	Not required	Not required
English proficiency test (e.g. TOEFL)	Required	Not required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	$80,693	$75,793
Average net price	$28,366	$19,733
Tuition	$57,734	$55,856
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $11,206 Meal plan: $7,280	Room/dormitory: $8,796 Meal plan: $8,354
Available payment plans	Prepaid tuition plan Tuition payment plan	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	36.0% Average amount $44,482	76.0% Average amount $40,072
Students receiving federal student loan	32.0% Average amount $1,946	6.0% Average amount $5,191
Students taking out private loans	7.0% Average amount $13,974	1.0% Average amount $30,543

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	3,043 Men 0.3% Women 99.7%	1,651 Men 49.7% Women 50.3%
Graduate students	N/A	N/A
Racial/ethnic diversity	Moderate	Moderate
Out-of-state students	70.3%	89.9%
International students	12.6%	15.4%
Campus local/setting	City: Large	Suburb: Large
Dormitory capacity	2,411	1,605
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	Yes
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	New York California New Jersey Mississippi Texas	New York California Pennsylvania New Jersey Texas

Academics
Popular study areas	Social Sciences Biological and Biomedical Sciences Visual & Performing Arts Ethnic Studies Public Administration and Social Service	Visual & Performing Arts Computer and Information Science Engineering Social Sciences Mathematics and Statistics
Students to faculty ratio	10:1	8:1
Institutional accreditation	Middle States Commission on Higher Education	Middle States Commission on Higher Education

Outcome
Graduation rate	92.8%	94.1%
Dropout rate	2.7%	5.7%
Transferred out	4.3%	N/A
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Economics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $65,217 Year 2: $70,456 Year 3: $87,791 Political Science and Government (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $48,807 Year 2: $47,846 Year 3: $67,484 Sociology (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $43,701 Year 2: $50,856 Year 3: $60,852 Urban Studies/Affairs (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $47,271 Year 2: N/A Year 3: $55,821 Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies, Other (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $49,646 Year 3: $53,521 English Language and Literature, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $41,937 Year 3: $52,302 Psychology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $38,848 Year 2: $48,432 Year 3: $50,891 Area Studies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $42,983 Year 2: $39,648 Year 3: N/A Biology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $40,340 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Neurobiology and Neurosciences (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $28,675 Year 2: $37,568 Year 3: N/A	Computer and Information Sciences, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $97,897 Year 2: $94,408 Year 3: $113,966 Economics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $56,029 Year 2: $81,702 Year 3: $88,391 Political Science and Government (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $43,119 Year 2: $39,369 Year 3: $44,841 Education, Other (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $47,260 Year 3: $42,944 Biology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $34,425 Year 2: $25,194 Year 3: $36,220 Engineering, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $68,963 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Mathematics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $59,964 Year 2: $125,015 Year 3: N/A Psychology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $43,426 Year 3: N/A

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