Swarthmore vs Mount Holyoke College

Swarthmore College and Mount Holyoke College, both esteemed liberal arts institutions, offer distinct educational experiences. Swarthmore, a coeducational college in Pennsylvania, boasts a lower acceptance rate (10%) compared to Mount Holyoke's (22%), a women's college in Massachusetts. Swarthmore's student body is more diverse, with international students comprising 13% of the population, while Mount Holyoke's student body is predominantly female (100%). Both colleges excel in academics, with Swarthmore's popular majors including engineering, economics, and political science, and Mount Holyoke's strengths lying in the social sciences, biological sciences, and English. While Swarthmore's graduation rate is slightly higher at 94%, both colleges boast impressive rates of graduate and professional school placement. Explore the detailed comparison table below to discover more about these exceptional institutions and determine which one aligns best with your academic aspirations and personal preferences.

	Mount Holyoke College	Swarthmore College
Overview
Location	South Hadley, Massachusetts	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 and Graduate	Undergraduate
Students retention rate	91.0%	95.0%
Common app member	Yes	Yes
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	52.3%	7.8%
Application fees	Undergraduate: $60 Graduate: $50	$60
SAT range	1300 - 1510	1430 - 1560
ACT range	31 - 35	33 - 35
Students submitting SAT score	24.0%	39.0%
Students submitting ACT score	11.0%	21.0%
Total number of applicants	3,971	13,012
Total number of admissions given out	2,077	1,013
Admitted students who chose to enroll	608	454
Yield rate	29.3%	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	$73,438	$75,793
Average net price	$29,218	$19,733
Tuition	$56,300	$55,856
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $8,320 Meal plan: $8,260	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)	100.0% Average amount $30,351	76.0% Average amount $40,072
Students receiving federal student loan	42.0% Average amount $4,906	6.0% Average amount $5,191
Students taking out private loans	7.0% Average amount $4,982	1.0% Average amount $30,543

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	2,220 Men 0.1% Women 99.9%	1,651 Men 49.7% Women 50.3%
Graduate students	122 Men 13.1% Women 86.9%	N/A
Racial/ethnic diversity	Low	Moderate
Out-of-state students	N/A	89.9%
International students	23.1%	15.4%
Campus local/setting	Suburb: Large	Suburb: Large
Dormitory capacity	2,171	1,605
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	Yes
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	Mississippi New York California Connecticut Florida	New York California Pennsylvania New Jersey Texas

Academics
Popular study areas	Social Sciences Education Foreign Languages and Literatures Biological and Biomedical Sciences Visual & Performing Arts	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	85.0%	94.1%
Dropout rate	2.9%	5.7%
Transferred out	11.9%	N/A
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	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	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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