Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) vs Connecticut College

Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) and Connecticut College (Conn College) are two distinct institutions with unique offerings. MCLA, a public liberal arts college in North Adams, Massachusetts, boasts a 90% acceptance rate, making it a more accessible option for students. Conn College, a private liberal arts college in New London, Connecticut, has a more selective admissions process, with an acceptance rate of 54%. Both colleges offer a diverse range of undergraduate programs, with popular majors at MCLA including Business Administration, Psychology, and Criminal Justice, while Conn College is known for its strengths in Economics, English, and Government. MCLA's student body is predominantly female (63%), while Conn College has a more balanced gender ratio (51% female, 49% male). In terms of graduation rates, Conn College outperforms MCLA, with a four-year graduation rate of 83% compared to MCLA's 59%. To help you

	Connecticut College	Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
Overview
Location	New London, Connecticut	North Adams, Massachusetts
Campus setting	City: Small	Town: Fringe
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Private (Non Profit)	Public
Calendar system	Semester	Semester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate	Undergraduate and Graduate
Students retention rate	86.0%	63.0%
Common app member	Yes	Yes
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	41.0%	91.0%
Application fees		$50
SAT range	1333 - 1476	N/A
ACT range	30 - 33	N/A
Students submitting SAT score	12.0%
Students submitting ACT score	10.0%
Total number of applicants	7,682	1,371
Total number of admissions given out	3,146	1,247
Admitted students who chose to enroll	492	167
Yield rate	15.6%	13.4%
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	Not required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	$80,575	In state: $25,928 Out of state: $34,873
Average net price	$44,820	$14,902
Tuition	$60,420	In state: $1,030 Out of state: $9,975
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $9,690 Meal plan: $7,090	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)	99.0% Average amount $32,882	99.0% Average amount $8,496
Students receiving federal student loan	36.0% Average amount $4,933	97.0% Average amount $3,734
Students taking out private loans	8.0% Average amount $21,449	12.0% Average amount $9,492

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	1,829 Men 40.7% Women 59.3%	870 Men 39.2% Women 60.8%
Graduate students	N/A	124 Men 33.1% Women 66.9%
Racial/ethnic diversity	Low	Low
Out-of-state students	85.0%	N/A
International students	8.9%	N/A
Campus local/setting	City: Small	Town: Fringe
Dormitory capacity	1,784	1,020
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	Mississippi New York Connecticut New Jersey California	Mississippi New York Vermont Connecticut Rhode Island

Academics
Popular study areas	Social Sciences Ethnic Studies Biological and Biomedical Sciences Foreign Languages and Literatures Visual & Performing Arts	Business Education Computer and Information Science Health Professions Biological and Biomedical Sciences
Students to faculty ratio	9:1	9:1
Institutional accreditation	New England Commission on Higher Education	New England Commission on Higher Education

Outcome
Graduation rate	81.0%	58.4%
Dropout rate	18.8%	41.6%
Transferred out	N/A	N/A
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Economics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $54,308 Year 2: $54,522 Year 3: $66,698 Political Science and Government (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $43,434 Year 2: $45,696 Year 3: $54,040 Sociology (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $42,682 Year 3: $46,272 Psychology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $36,919 Year 2: $32,284 Year 3: $41,034 English Language and Literature, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $31,642 Year 2: $35,060 Year 3: $39,884 Area Studies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $35,171 Year 2: $36,312 Year 3: $37,344 Computer Science (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $75,808 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $35,060 Year 3: N/A Biology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $32,970 Year 2: $28,881 Year 3: N/A Ecology, Evolution, Systematics, and Population Biology (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $30,342 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

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