Swarthmore vs Bates College

Swarthmore College and Bates College, both highly regarded liberal arts institutions, offer distinct educational experiences. Swarthmore, located in Pennsylvania, boasts a lower acceptance rate (10%) compared to Bates' (15%), indicating its highly selective admissions process. Swarthmore's student body is slightly larger, with an undergraduate population of around 1,500 students, while Bates has a more intimate community of approximately 1,800 undergraduates. Both colleges excel in academics, with Swarthmore ranking slightly higher in national liberal arts college rankings. While Bates is known for its strengths in the social sciences and humanities, Swarthmore offers a wider range of STEM programs. Explore the detailed comparison table to discover more about these colleges' differences in popular majors, student demographics, graduation rates, and other key aspects that may influence your college decision.

	Bates College	Swarthmore College
Overview
Location	Lewiston, Maine	Swarthmore, Pennsylvania
Campus setting	City: Small	Suburb: Large
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Private (Non Profit)	Private (Non Profit)
Calendar system	4-1-4	Semester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
Students retention rate	92.0%	95.0%
Common app member	Yes	Yes
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	17.3%	7.8%
Application fees	$60	$60
SAT range	N/A	1430 - 1560
ACT range	N/A	33 - 35
Students submitting SAT score		39.0%
Students submitting ACT score		21.0%
Total number of applicants	7,319	13,012
Total number of admissions given out	1,267	1,013
Admitted students who chose to enroll	553	454
Yield rate	43.6%	44.8%
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	Not required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	$77,870	$75,793
Average net price	$26,231	$19,733
Tuition	$59,062	$55,856
Room & board	$16,658	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)	36.0% Average amount $50,509	76.0% Average amount $40,072
Students receiving federal student loan	12.0% Average amount $4,182	6.0% Average amount $5,191
Students taking out private loans	3.0% Average amount $23,825	1.0% Average amount $30,543

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	1,821 Men 48.6% Women 51.4%	1,651 Men 49.7% Women 50.3%
Graduate students	N/A	N/A
Racial/ethnic diversity	Low	Moderate
Out-of-state students	N/A	89.9%
International students	8.7%	15.4%
Campus local/setting	City: Small	Suburb: Large
Dormitory capacity	1,816	1,605
First year students are required to live on campus?	Yes	Yes
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	N/A	New York California Pennsylvania New Jersey Texas

Academics
Popular study areas	Physical Science Social Sciences Ethnic Studies Foreign Languages and Literatures Psychology	Visual & Performing Arts Computer and Information Science Engineering Social Sciences Mathematics and Statistics
Students to faculty ratio	10:1	8:1
Institutional accreditation	New England Commission on Higher Education	Middle States Commission on Higher Education

Outcome
Graduation rate	91.7%	94.1%
Dropout rate	2.3%	5.7%
Transferred out	5.8%	N/A
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Economics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $55,768 Year 2: $69,338 Year 3: $73,497 History (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $51,273 Year 3: $55,661 Political Science and Government (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $50,568 Year 2: $38,289 Year 3: $53,638 Natural Resources Conservation and Research (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $22,883 Year 2: $26,353 Year 3: $35,020 Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $22,192 Year 3: N/A English Language and Literature, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $30,771 Year 3: N/A Biology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $33,170 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Neurobiology and Neurosciences (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $36,112 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Mathematics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $39,731 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Psychology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $39,657 Year 2: $25,194 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.

Bates College

Pitzer College