Swarthmore vs Haverford College

Swarthmore College and Haverford College, two prestigious liberal arts colleges in Pennsylvania, share a commitment to academic excellence and a vibrant campus culture. However, they also have distinct characteristics that set them apart. Swarthmore boasts a slightly higher acceptance rate (11.4% vs. 10.9%) and a larger student body (1,535 vs. 1,292), while Haverford has a slightly higher graduation rate (93% vs. 92%). Swarthmore's popular majors include engineering, economics, and political science, while Haverford's strengths lie in the social sciences, natural sciences, and humanities. Both colleges offer a diverse range of extracurricular activities, including sports, clubs, and student government, but Swarthmore has a slightly larger endowment ($2.1 billion vs. $1.3 billion), which may translate to more resources for students. To help you make an informed decision about which college is the right
Haverford College logo

Haverford College

Swarthmore College logo

Swarthmore College

Overview

Location Haverford, Pennsylvania 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 Undergraduate
Students retention rate 94.0% 95.0%
Common app member Yes Yes
Religious affiliation

Admission

Acceptance rate 17.8% 7.8%
Application fees $65 $60
SAT range 1420 - 1540 1430 - 1560
ACT range 33 - 35 33 - 35
Students submitting SAT score 38.0% 39.0%
Students submitting ACT score 21.0% 21.0%
Total number of applicants 5,332 13,012
Total number of admissions given out 951 1,013
Admitted students who chose to enroll 411 454
Yield rate 43.2% 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) Not required Not required

Tuition and Fees

Sticker price $81,570 $75,793
Average net price $24,462 $19,733
Tuition $60,442 $55,856
Room & board
Room/dormitory: $10,320

Meal plan: $6,980
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)

45.0%
Average amount $53,518
76.0%
Average amount $40,072
Students receiving federal student loan 15.0%
Average amount $4,885
6.0%
Average amount $5,191
Students taking out private loans 3.0%
Average amount $26,584
1.0%
Average amount $30,543

Students and Campus

Undergraduate students 1,420
Men 46.3% Women 53.7%
1,651
Men 49.7% Women 50.3%
Graduate students N/A N/A
Racial/ethnic diversity
Moderate
Moderate
Out-of-state students N/A 89.9%
International students 10.6% 15.4%
Campus local/setting Suburb: Large Suburb: Large
Dormitory capacity 1,424 1,605
First year students are required to live on campus? No Yes
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from N/A New York California Pennsylvania New Jersey Texas

Academics

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

Outcome

Graduation rate 90.1% 94.1%
Dropout rate 2.9% 5.7%
Transferred out 6.4% N/A
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)
Biology, General (Bachelor's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $35,410
  • Year 2: N/A
  • Year 3: N/A
Psychology, General (Bachelor's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $37,952
  • Year 2: N/A
  • Year 3: N/A
Economics (Bachelor's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $60,876
  • Year 2: N/A
  • Year 3: N/A
Political Science and Government (Bachelor's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $41,162
  • 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

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