Harvard vs Wellesley College

Harvard University and Wellesley College, two prestigious institutions of higher learning, offer distinct educational experiences. Harvard, renowned for its academic rigor and global reputation, boasts an acceptance rate of 5%, while Wellesley, a women's college known for its strong liberal arts curriculum, has an acceptance rate of 23%. Both universities attract high-achieving students, with Harvard's student body comprising 47% international students and Wellesley's student body being 13% international. While Harvard's popular majors include Computer Science, Economics, and Engineering, Wellesley students often pursue majors in Social Sciences, Biological Sciences, and English. With graduation rates of 98% for Harvard and 94% for Wellesley, both institutions ensure that their students are well-prepared for successful careers. Explore the detailed comparison table to discover more about these esteemed universities and determine which one aligns best with your academic aspirations and personal preferences.

	Harvard University	Wellesley College
Overview
Location	Cambridge, Massachusetts	Wellesley, Massachusetts
Campus setting	City: Midsize	Suburb: Large
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Private (Non Profit)	Private (Non Profit)
Calendar system	Semester	Semester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate and Graduate	Undergraduate
Students retention rate	96.0%	97.0%
Common app member	Yes	Yes
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	4.0%	16.2%
Application fees	Undergraduate: $75 Graduate: $105
SAT range	1480 - 1580	1400 - 1540
ACT range	33 - 36	31 - 34
Students submitting SAT score	54.0%	36.0%
Students submitting ACT score	31.0%	23.0%
Total number of applicants	57,786	7,663
Total number of admissions given out	2,318	1,240
Admitted students who chose to enroll	1,951	606
Yield rate	84.2%	48.9%
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)	Not required	Not required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	$78,028	$64,602
Average net price	$13,910	$21,862
Tuition	$51,143	$60,424
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $11,705 Meal plan: $7,236	Room/dormitory: $9,704 Meal plan: $8,584
Available payment plans	Prepaid tuition plan Tuition payment plan	Prepaid tuition plan Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	56.0% Average amount $59,840	60.0% Average amount $55,483
Students receiving federal student loan	3.0% Average amount $5,180	13.0% Average amount $3,993
Students taking out private loans	2.0% Average amount $8,080	13.0% Average amount $5,043

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	9,579 Men 49.0% Women 51.0%	2,461 Men 1.2% Women 98.8%
Graduate students	21,766 Men 46.3% Women 53.7%	N/A
Racial/ethnic diversity	Moderate	Moderate
Out-of-state students	N/A	N/A
International students	23.9%	13.8%
Campus local/setting	City: Midsize	Suburb: Large
Dormitory capacity	12,874	2,211
First year students are required to live on campus?	Yes	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	New York California Texas Illinois New Jersey	N/A

Academics
Popular study areas	Business Health Professions Social Sciences Education Legal Profession	Ethnic Studies Foreign Languages and Literatures Social Sciences Biological and Biomedical Sciences Physical Science
Students to faculty ratio	7:1	8:1
Institutional accreditation	New England Commission on Higher Education	New England Commission on Higher Education

Outcome
Graduation rate	96.7%	92.1%
Dropout rate	2.0%	7.8%
Transferred out	N/A	N/A
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Statistics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $78,193 Year 2: $128,716 Year 3: $240,408 Law (First Professional Degrees) Year 1: $184,307 Year 2: $165,340 Year 3: $199,043 Business Administration, Management and Operations (First Professional Degrees) Year 1: $171,333 Year 2: $171,907 Year 3: $187,553 Computer Science (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $140,072 Year 2: $128,737 Year 3: $163,896 Advanced/Graduate Dentistry and Oral Sciences (Graduate/Professional Certificates) Year 1: $151,371 Year 2: $174,023 Year 3: $163,512 Public Health (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $123,508 Year 2: $117,916 Year 3: $129,281 Ecology, Evolution, Systematics, and Population Biology (Master's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $106,421 Year 3: $121,832 Applied Mathematics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $102,707 Year 2: $90,856 Year 3: $121,771 Education, General (Doctoral Degrees) Year 1: $97,905 Year 2: $98,670 Year 3: $107,389 Dentistry (First Professional Degrees) Year 1: $68,745 Year 2: $71,486 Year 3: $106,375	Computer and Information Sciences, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $110,380 Year 2: $86,867 Year 3: $124,973 Economics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $70,781 Year 2: $76,460 Year 3: $80,094 Psychology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $38,289 Year 3: $62,505 Area Studies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $36,749 Year 2: $34,420 Year 3: $47,043 Political Science and Government (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $37,693 Year 2: $36,852 Year 3: $46,471 English Language and Literature, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $37,849 Year 2: $31,314 Year 3: $45,061 Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $37,002 Year 2: $33,281 Year 3: $39,658 Natural Resources Conservation and Research (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $29,685 Year 3: N/A Ethnic, Cultural Minority, Gender, and Group Studies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $50,587 Year 2: $33,993 Year 3: N/A Computer Software and Media Applications (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $70,490 Year 2: N/A 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.

Harvard

California Institute of Technology