Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) vs Adams State

Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) and Adams State University (ASU) are two distinct institutions of higher learning with unique offerings and characteristics. MCLA, located in North Adams, Massachusetts, is a public liberal arts college known for its small class sizes and personalized attention. ASU, situated in Alamosa, Colorado, is a public university that emphasizes hands-on learning and community engagement. While both institutions share a commitment to academic excellence, they differ in several key aspects, including acceptance rates, popular majors, student body demographics, and graduation rates. Explore the comprehensive comparison table below to discover which institution better aligns with your academic aspirations and personal preferences.

	Adams State University	Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
Overview
Location	Alamosa, Colorado	North Adams, Massachusetts
Campus setting	Town: Remote	Town: Fringe
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Public	Public
Calendar system	Semester	Semester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate and Graduate	Undergraduate and Graduate
Students retention rate	59.0%	63.0%
Common app member	No	Yes
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	99.8%	91.0%
Application fees	Undergraduate: $30 Graduate: $30	$50
SAT range	920 - 1140	N/A
ACT range	18 - 23	N/A
Students submitting SAT score	25.0%
Students submitting ACT score	10.0%
Total number of applicants	1,717	1,371
Total number of admissions given out	1,714	1,247
Admitted students who chose to enroll	318	167
Yield rate	18.6%	13.4%
Test scores (SAT/ACT)	N/A	N/A
High school GPA	Required	Required
Recommendation letters	Not required	Required
High school transcript	Required	Not required
English proficiency test (e.g. TOEFL)	Not required	Not required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	In state: $26,474 Out of state: $34,727	In state: $25,928 Out of state: $34,873
Average net price	$14,492	$14,902
Tuition	In state: $5,976 Out of state: $14,229	In state: $1,030 Out of state: $9,975
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $3,967 Meal plan: $5,200	Room/dormitory: $7,240 Meal plan: $5,044
Available payment plans	Tuition payment plan	Prepaid tuition plan Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	94.0% Average amount $9,130	99.0% Average amount $8,496
Students receiving federal student loan	69.0% Average amount $5,315	97.0% Average amount $3,734
Students taking out private loans	7.0% Average amount $11,675	12.0% Average amount $9,492

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	1,835 Men 52.8% Women 47.2%	870 Men 39.2% Women 60.8%
Graduate students	1,303 Men 29.1% Women 70.9%	124 Men 33.1% Women 66.9%
Racial/ethnic diversity	Moderate	Low
Out-of-state students	42.2%	N/A
International students	0.7%	N/A
Campus local/setting	Town: Remote	Town: Fringe
Dormitory capacity	1,200	1,020
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	Colorado New Mexico California Arizona Texas	Mississippi New York Vermont Connecticut Rhode Island

Academics
Popular study areas	Liberal Arts Education Kinesiology & Leisure Studies Psychology History	Business Education Computer and Information Science Health Professions Biological and Biomedical Sciences
Students to faculty ratio	11:1	9:1
Institutional accreditation	Higher Learning Commission	New England Commission on Higher Education

Outcome
Graduation rate	28.7%	58.4%
Dropout rate	49.8%	41.6%
Transferred out	17.9%	N/A
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $60,245 Year 2: $57,318 Year 3: $63,845 Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $43,727 Year 2: $44,126 Year 3: $47,513 Clinical, Counseling and Applied Psychology (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $43,360 Year 2: $44,861 Year 3: $46,910 Business/Commerce, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $34,088 Year 2: $34,603 Year 3: $39,930 Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $33,120 Year 2: $30,771 Year 3: $33,756 Health and Physical Education/Fitness (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $28,377 Year 2: $28,019 Year 3: $32,724 Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $53,667 Year 2: $52,107 Year 3: N/A English Language and Literature, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $28,019 Year 3: N/A Biology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $28,806 Year 2: $29,685 Year 3: N/A Sociology (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $31,414 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A	Computer and Information Sciences, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $64,895 Year 2: $63,005 Year 3: $73,830 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $31,172 Year 2: $34,467 Year 3: $40,733 Biology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $42,359 Year 2: $27,181 Year 3: $40,148 Education, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $32,284 Year 3: $35,408 English Language and Literature, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $24,617 Year 2: $32,569 Year 3: $34,741 Sociology (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $31,798 Year 2: $31,828 Year 3: $32,817 Psychology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $28,438 Year 2: $28,236 Year 3: $32,425 Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies, Other (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $34,231 Year 2: $29,374 Year 3: $31,158 Education, General (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $46,032 Year 2: $43,798 Year 3: N/A Visual and Performing Arts, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $20,169 Year 2: $25,194 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.

Adams State

Athens State University