Harrisburg Area Community College (HACC) vs Swarthmore

Harrisburg Area Community College and Swarthmore College, two distinct institutions of higher learning in Pennsylvania, offer contrasting educational experiences. Harrisburg Area Community College, a public community college, boasts an open admissions policy, welcoming a diverse student body with an acceptance rate of 100%. Swarthmore College, a private liberal arts college, is highly selective, with an acceptance rate of 11.4%. While Harrisburg Area Community College excels in associate's degrees, Swarthmore College specializes in bachelor's degrees, with popular majors in engineering, social sciences, and humanities. Explore the comprehensive comparison table to delve into further details, including graduation rates, student demographics, and additional factors, to determine the institution that best aligns with your academic aspirations and goals.

	Harrisburg Area Community College	Swarthmore College
Overview
Location	Harrisburg, Pennsylvania	Swarthmore, Pennsylvania
Campus setting	City: Small	Suburb: Large
College type	2 year	4 year
Control/business model	Public	Private (Non Profit)
Calendar system	Semester	Semester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
Students retention rate	56.0%	95.0%
Common app member	No	Yes
Religious affiliation

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

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	In state: $23,659 Out of state: $25,182	$75,793
Average net price	$12,147	$19,733
Tuition	In state: $6,795 Out of state: $8,168	$55,856
Room & board		Room/dormitory: $8,796 Meal plan: $8,354
Available payment plans	Tuition payment plan	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	95.0% Average amount $4,168	76.0% Average amount $40,072
Students receiving federal student loan	45.0% Average amount $4,826	6.0% Average amount $5,191
Students taking out private loans	3.0% Average amount $7,267	1.0% Average amount $30,543

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	14,023 Men 32.8% Women 67.2%	1,651 Men 49.7% Women 50.3%
Graduate students	N/A	N/A
Racial/ethnic diversity	Low	Moderate
Out-of-state students	0.8%	89.9%
International students	1.6%	15.4%
Campus local/setting	City: Small	Suburb: Large
Dormitory capacity	N/A	1,605
First year students are required to live on campus?	N/A	Yes
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	Pennsylvania Maryland New Jersey Delaware Florida	New York California Pennsylvania New Jersey Texas

Academics
Popular study areas	Health Professions Business Liberal Arts Computer and Information Science Education	Visual & Performing Arts Computer and Information Science Engineering Social Sciences Mathematics and Statistics
Students to faculty ratio	16:1	8:1
Institutional accreditation	Middle States Commission on Higher Education	Middle States Commission on Higher Education

Outcome
Graduation rate	15.5%	94.1%
Dropout rate	50.2%	5.7%
Transferred out	19.4%	N/A
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $62,046 Year 2: $59,527 Year 3: $62,466 Dental Support Services and Allied Professions (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $53,044 Year 2: $55,061 Year 3: $57,893 Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $50,129 Year 2: $53,839 Year 3: $54,010 Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science/Research and Allied Professions (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $48,142 Year 2: $49,423 Year 3: $53,711 Practical Nursing, Vocational Nursing and Nursing Assistants (Undergraduate Certificates or Diplomas) Year 1: $43,359 Year 2: $44,102 Year 3: $48,157 Computer Systems Networking and Telecommunications (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $37,733 Year 2: $40,512 Year 3: $45,275 Electrical and Power Transmission Installers (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $39,729 Year 3: $42,315 Computer and Information Sciences, General (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $34,075 Year 2: $37,208 Year 3: $42,066 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $32,314 Year 2: $32,747 Year 3: $39,836 Legal Support Services (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $31,324 Year 2: $34,348 Year 3: $38,084	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

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.