Kalamazoo College vs Colby College

Kalamazoo College and Colby College, both esteemed liberal arts institutions, offer distinct educational experiences. Kalamazoo, nestled in Michigan, boasts a tight-knit community with a 73% acceptance rate, while Colby, located in Maine, maintains a more selective admissions process with a 14% acceptance rate. Kalamazoo's student body is slightly larger, with an undergraduate population of 1,400 compared to Colby's 1,800. Both colleges excel in academics, with Kalamazoo emphasizing experiential learning through its K-Plan and Colby offering a rigorous curriculum with opportunities for independent research. Explore the detailed comparison table to discover further distinctions in popular majors, student demographics, graduation rates, and more, helping you make an informed decision about your higher education journey.

	Colby College	Kalamazoo College
Overview
Location	Waterville, Maine	Kalamazoo, Michigan
Campus setting	Town: Remote	City: Small
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Private (Non Profit)	Private (Non Profit)
Calendar system	4-1-4	Quarter
Degrees offered	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
Students retention rate	95.0%	85.0%
Common app member	Yes	Yes
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	8.9%	79.6%
Application fees
SAT range	1400 - 1530	1160 - 1380
ACT range	32 - 34	24 - 30
Students submitting SAT score	40.0%	26.0%
Students submitting ACT score	28.0%	11.0%
Total number of applicants	15,857	3,350
Total number of admissions given out	1,407	2,666
Admitted students who chose to enroll	667	382
Yield rate	47.4%	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)	Not required	Required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	$68,825	$68,832
Average net price	$17,912	$27,395
Tuition	$58,640	$53,976
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $8,150 Meal plan: $7,595	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)	39.0% Average amount $58,513	99.0% Average amount $40,208
Students receiving federal student loan	8.0% Average amount $5,140	32.0% Average amount $5,066
Students taking out private loans	1.0% Average amount $18,242	3.0% Average amount $13,150

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	2,262 Men 47.1% Women 52.9%	1,241 Men 43.7% Women 56.3%
Graduate students	N/A	N/A
Racial/ethnic diversity	Low	Low
Out-of-state students	N/A	N/A
International students	9.5%	5.2%
Campus local/setting	Town: Remote	City: Small
Dormitory capacity	2,242	834
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	N/A	N/A

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

Outcome
Graduation rate	86.6%	76.4%
Dropout rate	5.7%	23.1%
Transferred out	7.5%	N/A
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Economics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $58,540 Year 2: $57,995 Year 3: $83,980 Political Science and Government (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $43,972 Year 2: $47,118 Year 3: $55,529 International/Global Studies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $44,350 Year 2: $42,682 Year 3: $53,638 Area Studies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $33,993 Year 3: $42,883 Natural Resources Conservation and Research (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $37,156 Year 2: N/A Year 3: $40,423 Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $44,612 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A English Language and Literature, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $41,193 Year 3: N/A Biology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $30,771 Year 3: N/A Psychology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $38,289 Year 3: N/A Anthropology (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $44,971 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

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.

Colby College

Colorado College