Kalamazoo College vs Bowdoin College

Kalamazoo College and Bowdoin College, both esteemed liberal arts institutions, offer distinct educational experiences. Kalamazoo, located in Michigan, boasts a 73% acceptance rate, while Bowdoin, situated in Maine, is more selective with a 12% acceptance rate. Kalamazoo's student body is more diverse, with 43% students of color compared to Bowdoin's 30%. Both colleges excel in academics, with Kalamazoo's popular majors including biology, psychology, and economics, and Bowdoin's strengths lying in government and legal studies, economics, and English. Kalamazoo's graduation rate stands at 82%, while Bowdoin's is slightly higher at 93%. To help you make an informed decision, we've compiled a comprehensive comparison table below, highlighting key differences between these two exceptional institutions.

	Bowdoin College	Kalamazoo College
Overview
Location	Brunswick, Maine	Kalamazoo, Michigan
Campus setting	Town: Fringe	City: Small
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Private (Non Profit)	Private (Non Profit)
Calendar system	Semester	Quarter
Degrees offered	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
Students retention rate	97.0%	85.0%
Common app member	Yes	Yes
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	8.8%	79.6%
Application fees	$65
SAT range	N/A	1160 - 1380
ACT range	N/A	24 - 30
Students submitting SAT score		26.0%
Students submitting ACT score		11.0%
Total number of applicants	9,325	3,350
Total number of admissions given out	822	2,666
Admitted students who chose to enroll	517	382
Yield rate	62.9%	14.3%
Test scores (SAT/ACT)	N/A	N/A
High school GPA	Not required	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	$76,310	$68,832
Average net price	$26,727	$27,395
Tuition	$57,776	$53,976
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $7,630 Meal plan: $8,268	Room/dormitory: $5,316 Meal plan: $5,916
Available payment plans	Tuition payment plan	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	54.0% Average amount $45,153	99.0% Average amount $40,208
Students receiving federal student loan	11.0% Average amount $4,767	32.0% Average amount $5,066
Students taking out private loans	1.0% Average amount $20,700	3.0% Average amount $13,150

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	1,951 Men 49.4% Women 50.6%	1,241 Men 43.7% Women 56.3%
Graduate students	N/A	N/A
Racial/ethnic diversity	Low	Low
Out-of-state students	91.5%	N/A
International students	7.1%	5.2%
Campus local/setting	Town: Fringe	City: Small
Dormitory capacity	1,913	834
First year students are required to live on campus?	Yes	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	New York California Maine Connecticut New Jersey	N/A

Academics
Popular study areas	Social Sciences Ethnic Studies Biological and Biomedical Sciences Natural Resources and Conservation Mathematics and Statistics	Social Sciences Foreign Languages and Literatures Psychology Visual & Performing Arts Ethnic Studies
Students to faculty ratio	9:1	10:1
Institutional accreditation	New England Commission on Higher Education	Higher Learning Commission

Outcome
Graduation rate	93.8%	76.4%
Dropout rate	2.2%	23.1%
Transferred out	4.0%	N/A
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Computer Science (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $104,192 Year 3: $122,292 Mathematics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $67,101 Year 3: $83,803 Economics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $61,127 Year 2: $71,015 Year 3: $77,719 Political Science and Government (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $51,934 Year 2: $50,231 Year 3: $60,473 Natural Resources Conservation and Research (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $25,194 Year 3: N/A Area Studies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $46,244 Year 2: $42,123 Year 3: N/A Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $32,925 Year 3: N/A English Language and Literature, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $22,771 Year 3: N/A Biology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $44,658 Year 2: $39,009 Year 3: N/A Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $39,454 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A	Business/Commerce, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $43,367 Year 2: $47,729 Year 3: $52,173 Psychology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $21,169 Year 2: $22,920 Year 3: $42,343 English Language and Literature, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $31,536 Year 2: $20,140 Year 3: $39,152 Social Sciences, Other (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $27,345 Year 2: $31,038 Year 3: $31,277 Biology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $21,784 Year 2: $19,045 Year 3: $30,710 Chemistry (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $28,535 Year 2: $41,565 Year 3: N/A Economics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $34,802 Year 2: $55,964 Year 3: N/A Fine and Studio Arts (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $17,180 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A History (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $21,568 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A

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