Lafayette College vs Harvard

Lafayette College and Harvard University, two esteemed institutions of higher learning, offer distinct educational experiences. Lafayette, a liberal arts college in Easton, Pennsylvania, boasts a tight-knit community and a focus on undergraduate teaching. Harvard, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is renowned for its academic rigor and extensive resources. With acceptance rates of 29% and 5%, respectively, these institutions cater to different levels of academic competitiveness. Lafayette's popular majors include engineering, business, and psychology, while Harvard offers a wide range of disciplines, including social sciences, humanities, and natural sciences. Explore the comparison table to delve into further details about these institutions, including student body demographics, graduation rates, and more, to determine the best fit for your academic aspirations and personal preferences.

	Harvard University	Lafayette College
Overview
Location	Cambridge, Massachusetts	Easton, Pennsylvania
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%	91.0%
Common app member	Yes	Yes
Religious affiliation		Presbyterian

Admission
Acceptance rate	4.0%	40.7%
Application fees	Undergraduate: $75 Graduate: $105	$65
SAT range	1480 - 1580	1300 - 1460
ACT range	33 - 36	30 - 33
Students submitting SAT score	54.0%	28.0%
Students submitting ACT score	31.0%	13.0%
Total number of applicants	57,786	8,262
Total number of admissions given out	2,318	3,366
Admitted students who chose to enroll	1,951	782
Yield rate	84.2%	23.2%
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	$78,028	$75,934
Average net price	$13,910	$38,754
Tuition	$51,143	$55,874
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $11,705 Meal plan: $7,236	Room/dormitory: $10,308 Meal plan: $6,362
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	61.0% Average amount $34,668
Students receiving federal student loan	3.0% Average amount $5,180	26.0% Average amount $4,491
Students taking out private loans	2.0% Average amount $8,080	7.0% Average amount $23,831

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	9,579 Men 49.0% Women 51.0%	2,725 Men 51.2% Women 48.8%
Graduate students	21,766 Men 46.3% Women 53.7%	N/A
Racial/ethnic diversity	Moderate	Low
Out-of-state students	N/A	82.6%
International students	23.9%	7.8%
Campus local/setting	City: Midsize	Suburb: Large
Dormitory capacity	12,874	2,510
First year students are required to live on campus?	Yes	Yes
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	New York California Texas Illinois New Jersey	New Jersey New York Pennsylvania Mississippi Connecticut

Academics
Popular study areas	Business Health Professions Social Sciences Education Legal Profession	Engineering Biological and Biomedical Sciences Social Sciences Physical Science Visual & Performing Arts
Students to faculty ratio	7:1	10:1
Institutional accreditation	New England Commission on Higher Education	Middle States Commission on Higher Education

Outcome
Graduation rate	96.7%	87.9%
Dropout rate	2.0%	2.5%
Transferred out	N/A	9.6%
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	Chemical Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $64,532 Year 2: $68,379 Year 3: $80,306 Civil Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $67,033 Year 2: $65,238 Year 3: $78,021 Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $77,247 Year 2: $71,575 Year 3: $76,714 Mechanical Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $67,784 Year 2: $65,486 Year 3: $76,536 Engineering, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $67,714 Year 2: $72,403 Year 3: $75,320 Economics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $63,927 Year 2: $58,943 Year 3: $72,455 International Relations and National Security Studies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $47,229 Year 2: $48,198 Year 3: $60,266 Political Science and Government (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $46,408 Year 2: $44,468 Year 3: $57,092 English Language and Literature, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $37,680 Year 2: $32,391 Year 3: $50,156 Psychology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $44,170 Year 3: $48,201

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