Lake Forest College vs Swarthmore

Nestled in the heart of the Midwest, Lake Forest College, and Swarthmore College, a gem of the East Coast, stand as two distinct beacons of higher education. While both institutions share a commitment to academic excellence and fostering a vibrant campus community, they offer unique experiences that cater to diverse student aspirations. With Lake Forest College's acceptance rate hovering around 60% and Swarthmore's highly selective admissions process resulting in an acceptance rate of 10%, the first hint of their contrasting selectivity emerges. Delve into the comparison table to uncover further distinctions in popular majors, student demographics, graduation rates, and more, empowering you to make an informed decision that aligns with your academic goals and personal preferences.

	Lake Forest College	Swarthmore College
Overview
Location	Lake Forest, Illinois	Swarthmore, Pennsylvania
Campus setting	Suburb: Large	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	87.0%	95.0%
Common app member	Yes	Yes
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	64.4%	7.8%
Application fees	$50	$60
SAT range	1130 - 1345	1430 - 1560
ACT range	26 - 31	33 - 35
Students submitting SAT score	26.0%	39.0%
Students submitting ACT score	15.0%	21.0%
Total number of applicants	4,358	13,012
Total number of admissions given out	2,808	1,013
Admitted students who chose to enroll	417	454
Yield rate	14.9%	44.8%
Test scores (SAT/ACT)	N/A	N/A
High school GPA	Required	Not required
Recommendation letters	Required	Required
High school transcript	Not required	Not required
English proficiency test (e.g. TOEFL)	Required	Not required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	$66,400	$75,793
Average net price	$25,126	$19,733
Tuition	$50,100	$55,856
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $5,540 Meal plan: $5,958	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)	100.0% Average amount $38,182	76.0% Average amount $40,072
Students receiving federal student loan	43.0% Average amount $5,895	6.0% Average amount $5,191
Students taking out private loans	4.0% Average amount $15,800	1.0% Average amount $30,543

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	1,661 Men 41.7% Women 58.3%	1,651 Men 49.7% Women 50.3%
Graduate students	29 Men 34.5% Women 65.5%	N/A
Racial/ethnic diversity	Low	Moderate
Out-of-state students	45.4%	89.9%
International students	15.7%	15.4%
Campus local/setting	Suburb: Large	Suburb: Large
Dormitory capacity	1,236	1,605
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	Yes
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	Illinois Arizona California Colorado Minnesota	New York California Pennsylvania New Jersey Texas

Academics
Popular study areas	Social Sciences Biological and Biomedical Sciences Education Foreign Languages and Literatures Psychology	Visual & Performing Arts Computer and Information Science Engineering Social Sciences Mathematics and Statistics
Students to faculty ratio	12:1	8:1
Institutional accreditation	Higher Learning Commission	Middle States Commission on Higher Education

Outcome
Graduation rate	73.0%	94.1%
Dropout rate	4.8%	5.7%
Transferred out	22.2%	N/A
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Finance and Financial Management Services (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $51,498 Year 2: $44,468 Year 3: $58,948 Communication and Media Studies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $45,662 Year 2: $41,007 Year 3: $50,604 Business/Commerce, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $39,515 Year 2: $40,647 Year 3: $46,215 Political Science and Government (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $44,630 Year 2: $30,409 Year 3: $42,995 Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $39,945 Year 2: $29,685 Year 3: $37,497 English Language and Literature, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $33,373 Year 2: $23,807 Year 3: $32,580 Natural Resources Conservation and Research (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $26,153 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Biology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $29,832 Year 3: N/A Neurobiology and Neurosciences (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $35,544 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Mathematics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $47,197 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A	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.

Lake Forest College vs Swarthmore

Lake Forest College

Swarthmore College

Overview

Admission

Tuition and Fees

Financial Aid

Students and Campus

Academics

Outcome

Compare Similar Colleges

Find Colleges By State

Resources

About