Carleton College vs Mount Holyoke College

Carleton College and Mount Holyoke College, both esteemed liberal arts institutions, offer distinct educational experiences. Carleton, located in Northfield, Minnesota, boasts a lower acceptance rate (22.5%) compared to Mount Holyoke's (33.5%) in South Hadley, Massachusetts. Carleton's student body is slightly larger, with an undergraduate enrollment of 2,100 students, while Mount Holyoke has a more intimate community of 1,800 undergraduates. While both colleges excel in the humanities and social sciences, Carleton is known for its strength in natural sciences, while Mount Holyoke is recognized for its exceptional programs in the arts. Explore the detailed comparison table to discover more about these colleges' unique offerings, including popular majors, student demographics, and graduation rates, to help you make an informed decision about your academic journey.

	Carleton College	Mount Holyoke College
Overview
Location	Northfield, Minnesota	South Hadley, Massachusetts
Campus setting	Town: Distant	Suburb: Large
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Private (Non Profit)	Private (Non Profit)
Calendar system	Trimester	Semester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate	Undergraduate and Graduate
Students retention rate	95.0%	91.0%
Common app member	Yes	Yes
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	17.5%	52.3%
Application fees		Undergraduate: $60 Graduate: $50
SAT range	1408 - 1550	1300 - 1510
ACT range	31 - 35	31 - 35
Students submitting SAT score	35.0%	24.0%
Students submitting ACT score	34.0%	11.0%
Total number of applicants	7,915	3,971
Total number of admissions given out	1,389	2,077
Admitted students who chose to enroll	555	608
Yield rate	40.0%	29.3%
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	$78,315	$73,438
Average net price	$31,718	$29,218
Tuition	$59,850	$56,300
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $8,115 Meal plan: $7,260	Room/dormitory: $8,320 Meal plan: $8,260
Available payment plans	Tuition payment plan	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	65.0% Average amount $45,715	100.0% Average amount $30,351
Students receiving federal student loan	45.0% Average amount $3,914	42.0% Average amount $4,906
Students taking out private loans	2.0% Average amount $14,334	7.0% Average amount $4,982

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	2,044 Men 48.7% Women 51.3%	2,220 Men 0.1% Women 99.9%
Graduate students	N/A	122 Men 13.1% Women 86.9%
Racial/ethnic diversity	Moderate	Low
Out-of-state students	81.5%	N/A
International students	10.2%	23.1%
Campus local/setting	Town: Distant	Suburb: Large
Dormitory capacity	1,854	2,171
First year students are required to live on campus?	Yes	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	Minnesota California Illinois New York Texas	Mississippi New York California Connecticut Florida

Academics
Popular study areas	Physical Science Social Sciences Ethnic Studies Mathematics and Statistics Visual & Performing Arts	Social Sciences Education Foreign Languages and Literatures Biological and Biomedical Sciences Visual & Performing Arts
Students to faculty ratio	8:1	10:1
Institutional accreditation	Higher Learning Commission	New England Commission on Higher Education

Outcome
Graduation rate	91.4%	85.0%
Dropout rate	8.3%	2.9%
Transferred out	N/A	11.9%
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	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	International Relations and National Security Studies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $39,377 Year 2: $45,696 Year 3: $46,206 Education, Other (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $46,986 Year 2: $42,682 Year 3: $46,152 Political Science and Government (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $42,150 Year 2: $35,060 Year 3: $44,038 Anthropology (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $32,925 Year 3: $37,403 Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $30,356 Year 2: $36,852 Year 3: $35,497 Fine and Studio Arts (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $26,353 Year 3: $34,113 Psychology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $31,168 Year 2: $30,409 Year 3: $33,868 English Language and Literature, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $28,960 Year 3: $30,295 History (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $24,035 Year 3: $30,137 Biology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $28,160 Year 2: $28,598 Year 3: $29,034

Compare Similar Colleges

The list of suggested college comparisons provided below is generated automatically by our system, utilizing statistics gathered from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and various online sources. If you don't find the colleges you wish to compare, please visit our comparison page. There, you can search for the specific colleges and initiate your comparison.

Carleton College vs Mount Holyoke College

Carleton College

Mount Holyoke College

Overview

Admission

Tuition and Fees

Financial Aid

Students and Campus

Academics

Outcome

Compare Similar Colleges

Find Colleges By State

Resources

About