Mount Holyoke College vs Bard College

Mount Holyoke College and Bard College, two esteemed liberal arts institutions, offer distinct educational experiences. Mount Holyoke, a women's college in South Hadley, Massachusetts, boasts a 34% acceptance rate and a strong focus on the humanities and social sciences. Bard, a coeducational college in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, has a 42% acceptance rate and is known for its innovative academic programs, including its distinctive Bard College at Simon's Rock early college program. While both colleges share a commitment to academic excellence and fostering a diverse and inclusive community, they differ in their student body demographics, popular majors, and graduation rates. Explore the detailed comparison table below to discover which college better aligns with your academic aspirations and personal preferences.

	Bard College	Mount Holyoke College
Overview
Location	Annandale-On-Hudson, New York	South Hadley, Massachusetts
Campus setting	Town: Fringe	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 and Graduate
Students retention rate	87.0%	91.0%
Common app member	No	Yes
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	59.9%	52.3%
Application fees	Undergraduate: $50 Graduate: $65	Undergraduate: $60 Graduate: $50
SAT range	N/A	1300 - 1510
ACT range	N/A	31 - 35
Students submitting SAT score		24.0%
Students submitting ACT score		11.0%
Total number of applicants	5,167	3,971
Total number of admissions given out	3,096	2,077
Admitted students who chose to enroll	473	608
Yield rate	15.3%	29.3%
Test scores (SAT/ACT)	N/A	N/A
High school GPA	Not required	Not required
Recommendation letters	Required	Required
High school transcript	Not required	Not required
English proficiency test (e.g. TOEFL)	Required	Required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	$72,868	$73,438
Average net price	$24,318	$29,218
Tuition	$57,498	$56,300
Room & board	$16,760	Room/dormitory: $8,320 Meal plan: $8,260
Available payment plans	Prepaid tuition plan Tuition payment plan	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	79.0% Average amount $50,598	100.0% Average amount $30,351
Students receiving federal student loan	49.0% Average amount $5,101	42.0% Average amount $4,906
Students taking out private loans	2.0% Average amount $16,225	7.0% Average amount $4,982

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	2,171 Men 44.4% Women 55.6%	2,220 Men 0.1% Women 99.9%
Graduate students	420 Men 40.2% Women 59.8%	122 Men 13.1% Women 86.9%
Racial/ethnic diversity	Moderate	Low
Out-of-state students	N/A	N/A
International students	14.7%	23.1%
Campus local/setting	Town: Fringe	Suburb: Large
Dormitory capacity	1,400	2,171
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	N/A	Mississippi New York California Connecticut Florida

Academics
Popular study areas	Liberal Arts Visual & Performing Arts Business Education Natural Resources and Conservation	Social Sciences Education Foreign Languages and Literatures Biological and Biomedical Sciences Visual & Performing Arts
Students to faculty ratio	9:1	10:1
Institutional accreditation	Middle States Commission on Higher Education	New England Commission on Higher Education

Outcome
Graduation rate	70.6%	85.0%
Dropout rate	9.9%	2.9%
Transferred out	18.3%	11.9%
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $45,261 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A English Language and Literature/Letters, Other (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $19,624 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Biological and Physical Sciences (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $30,818 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Social Sciences, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $24,172 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Fine and Studio Arts (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $17,518 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Fine and Studio Arts (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $38,944 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Music (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $27,353 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $51,051 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A	International Relations and National Security Studies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $39,377 Year 2: $45,696 Year 3: $46,206 Education, Other (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $46,986 Year 2: $42,682 Year 3: $46,152 Political Science and Government (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $42,150 Year 2: $35,060 Year 3: $44,038 Anthropology (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $32,925 Year 3: $37,403 Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $30,356 Year 2: $36,852 Year 3: $35,497 Fine and Studio Arts (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $26,353 Year 3: $34,113 Psychology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $31,168 Year 2: $30,409 Year 3: $33,868 English Language and Literature, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $28,960 Year 3: $30,295 History (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $24,035 Year 3: $30,137 Biology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $28,160 Year 2: $28,598 Year 3: $29,034

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