Carleton College vs Bard College

Carleton College and Bard College, both highly regarded liberal arts institutions, offer distinct educational experiences. Carleton, located in Northfield, Minnesota, boasts a lower acceptance rate (22.5%) compared to Bard's (35.5%) in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. Carleton's student body is slightly larger, with an undergraduate enrollment of 2,100 students, while Bard's is around 1,900. Both colleges offer a diverse range of majors, with Carleton being known for its strengths in the natural sciences and Bard for its focus on the arts and humanities. Carleton's graduation rate is slightly higher at 89%, compared to Bard's 86%. Explore the detailed comparison table below to discover more about these two exceptional institutions and determine which one aligns best with your academic aspirations and personal preferences.

	Bard College	Carleton College
Overview
Location	Annandale-On-Hudson, New York	Northfield, Minnesota
Campus setting	Town: Fringe	Town: Distant
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Private (Non Profit)	Private (Non Profit)
Calendar system	Semester	Trimester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate and Graduate	Undergraduate
Students retention rate	87.0%	95.0%
Common app member	No	Yes
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	59.9%	17.5%
Application fees	Undergraduate: $50 Graduate: $65
SAT range	N/A	1408 - 1550
ACT range	N/A	31 - 35
Students submitting SAT score		35.0%
Students submitting ACT score		34.0%
Total number of applicants	5,167	7,915
Total number of admissions given out	3,096	1,389
Admitted students who chose to enroll	473	555
Yield rate	15.3%	40.0%
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	Required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	$72,868	$78,315
Average net price	$24,318	$31,718
Tuition	$57,498	$59,850
Room & board	$16,760	Room/dormitory: $8,115 Meal plan: $7,260
Available payment plans	Prepaid tuition plan Tuition payment plan	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	79.0% Average amount $50,598	65.0% Average amount $45,715
Students receiving federal student loan	49.0% Average amount $5,101	45.0% Average amount $3,914
Students taking out private loans	2.0% Average amount $16,225	2.0% Average amount $14,334

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	2,171 Men 44.4% Women 55.6%	2,044 Men 48.7% Women 51.3%
Graduate students	420 Men 40.2% Women 59.8%	N/A
Racial/ethnic diversity	Moderate	Moderate
Out-of-state students	N/A	81.5%
International students	14.7%	10.2%
Campus local/setting	Town: Fringe	Town: Distant
Dormitory capacity	1,400	1,854
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	Yes
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	N/A	Minnesota California Illinois New York Texas

Academics
Popular study areas	Liberal Arts Visual & Performing Arts Business Education Natural Resources and Conservation	Physical Science Social Sciences Ethnic Studies Mathematics and Statistics Visual & Performing Arts
Students to faculty ratio	9:1	8:1
Institutional accreditation	Middle States Commission on Higher Education	Higher Learning Commission

Outcome
Graduation rate	70.6%	91.4%
Dropout rate	9.9%	8.3%
Transferred out	18.3%	N/A
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $45,261 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A English Language and Literature/Letters, Other (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $19,624 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Biological and Physical Sciences (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $30,818 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Social Sciences, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $24,172 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Fine and Studio Arts (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $17,518 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Fine and Studio Arts (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $38,944 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Music (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $27,353 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $51,051 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A	Computer Science (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $76,876 Year 2: $76,460 Year 3: $101,936 Economics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $60,032 Year 2: N/A Year 3: $66,207 Biology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $28,526 Year 2: $23,034 Year 3: $30,071 Area Studies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $27,669 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A English Language and Literature, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $27,425 Year 2: $22,329 Year 3: N/A Mathematics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $46,952 Year 2: $37,568 Year 3: N/A Chemistry (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $30,227 Year 2: $36,141 Year 3: N/A Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $20,625 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Physics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $42,774 Year 3: N/A Psychology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $31,301 Year 2: $33,719 Year 3: N/A

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