Swarthmore vs Smith College

Swarthmore College and Smith College, both highly regarded liberal arts institutions, offer distinct educational experiences. Swarthmore, a coeducational college in Pennsylvania, boasts a lower acceptance rate (10%) compared to Smith's (29%), a women's college in Massachusetts. Swarthmore's student body is more diverse, with international students comprising 13% of the population, while Smith's student body is predominantly female (100%). Both colleges excel in academics, with Swarthmore's popular majors including engineering, economics, and political science, and Smith's strengths lying in social sciences, biological sciences, and arts. Swarthmore's graduation rate is slightly higher at 94% compared to Smith's 92%. Explore the detailed comparison table below to discover more key differences and make an informed decision about which college aligns best with your academic aspirations and personal preferences.

	Smith College	Swarthmore College
Overview
Location	Northampton, 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	95.0%	95.0%
Common app member	Yes	Yes
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	29.9%	7.8%
Application fees	$60	$60
SAT range	1370 - 1530	1430 - 1560
ACT range	31 - 34	33 - 35
Students submitting SAT score	34.0%	39.0%
Students submitting ACT score	20.0%	21.0%
Total number of applicants	6,064	13,012
Total number of admissions given out	1,814	1,013
Admitted students who chose to enroll	676	454
Yield rate	37.3%	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)	Not required	Not required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	$68,128	$75,793
Average net price	$29,569	$19,733
Tuition	$55,830	$55,856
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $9,700 Meal plan: $9,720	Room/dormitory: $8,796 Meal plan: $8,354
Available payment plans	Prepaid tuition plan Tuition payment plan	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	70.0% Average amount $44,108	76.0% Average amount $40,072
Students receiving federal student loan	35.0% Average amount $3,560	6.0% Average amount $5,191
Students taking out private loans	5.0% Average amount $8,280	1.0% Average amount $30,543

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	2,566 Men 0.1% Women 99.9%	1,651 Men 49.7% Women 50.3%
Graduate students	358 Men 16.2% Women 83.8%	N/A
Racial/ethnic diversity	Moderate	Moderate
Out-of-state students	N/A	89.9%
International students	13.4%	15.4%
Campus local/setting	Suburb: Large	Suburb: Large
Dormitory capacity	2,519	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 Maryland	New York California Pennsylvania New Jersey Texas

Academics
Popular study areas	Public Administration and Social Service Engineering Social Sciences Foreign Languages and Literatures Mathematics and Statistics	Visual & Performing Arts Computer and Information Science Engineering Social Sciences Mathematics and Statistics
Students to faculty ratio	9:1	8:1
Institutional accreditation	New England Commission on Higher Education	Middle States Commission on Higher Education

Outcome
Graduation rate	91.0%	94.1%
Dropout rate	3.6%	5.7%
Transferred out	5.1%	N/A
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Engineering, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $62,496 Year 2: N/A Year 3: $70,990 Economics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $47,650 Year 3: $56,651 Social Work (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $48,011 Year 2: $45,554 Year 3: $53,962 Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities (Master's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $46,620 Year 3: $53,886 Education, General (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $42,098 Year 2: $43,798 Year 3: $48,619 Political Science and Government (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $40,776 Year 2: $39,153 Year 3: $43,120 Education, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $31,839 Year 3: $41,147 Research and Experimental Psychology (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $29,006 Year 2: $18,566 Year 3: $41,145 Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $26,954 Year 2: $28,019 Year 3: $40,411 Neurobiology and Neurosciences (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $34,603 Year 3: $38,497	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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