Wells College vs Macalester College

Wells College and Macalester College, two esteemed liberal arts institutions, offer distinct educational experiences. Wells, a women's college in Aurora, New York, fosters a close-knit community with a focus on personalized attention and leadership development. Macalester, a coeducational college in Saint Paul, Minnesota, emphasizes global engagement and social responsibility, preparing students for careers in a diverse and interconnected world. While both colleges share a commitment to academic excellence and student success, they differ in acceptance rates, popular majors, student body demographics, and graduation rates. Explore the comparison table below to discover which college aligns best with your academic aspirations and personal preferences.

	Macalester College	Wells College
Overview
Location	Saint Paul, Minnesota	Aurora, New York
Campus setting	City: Large	Rural: Distant
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	96.0%	46.0%
Common app member	No	Yes
Religious affiliation	Presbyterian

Admission
Acceptance rate	31.3%	68.3%
Application fees	$40
SAT range	1340 - 1515	N/A
ACT range	29 - 33	N/A
Students submitting SAT score	35.0%
Students submitting ACT score	39.0%
Total number of applicants	9,046	2,167
Total number of admissions given out	2,828	1,480
Admitted students who chose to enroll	601	140
Yield rate	21.3%	9.5%
Test scores (SAT/ACT)	N/A	N/A
High school GPA	Not required	Not required
Recommendation letters	Required	Not required
High school transcript	Not required	Not required
English proficiency test (e.g. TOEFL)	Required	Required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	$76,357	$49,100
Average net price	$30,939	$19,963
Tuition	$60,288	$30,950
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $7,272 Meal plan: $6,270	Room/dormitory: $11,800 Meal plan: $3,000
Available payment plans	Tuition payment plan	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	87.0% Average amount $42,832	100.0% Average amount $27,321
Students receiving federal student loan	39.0% Average amount $4,799	83.0% Average amount $5,847
Students taking out private loans	29.0% Average amount $4,321	19.0% Average amount $13,131

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	2,244 Men 43.3% Women 56.7%	342 Men 39.5% Women 60.5%
Graduate students	N/A	N/A
Racial/ethnic diversity	Low	Moderate
Out-of-state students	N/A	N/A
International students	13.5%	1.2%
Campus local/setting	City: Large	Rural: Distant
Dormitory capacity	1,332	442
First year students are required to live on campus?	Yes	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	N/A	N/A

Academics
Popular study areas	Mathematics and Statistics Foreign Languages and Literatures Multidisciplinary Studies Social Sciences Computer and Information Science	Business Biological and Biomedical Sciences Natural Resources and Conservation Education History
Students to faculty ratio	10:1	9:1
Institutional accreditation	Higher Learning Commission	Middle States Commission on Higher Education

Outcome
Graduation rate	89.7%	55.0%
Dropout rate	10.0%	45.0%
Transferred out	N/A	N/A
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Economics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $47,163 Year 2: $64,493 Year 3: $72,135 Mathematics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $60,896 Year 2: $52,107 Year 3: $56,193 Political Science and Government (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $28,635 Year 2: $35,274 Year 3: $43,620 Geography and Cartography (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $28,253 Year 2: $32,569 Year 3: $39,047 International/Global Studies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $22,368 Year 2: $34,526 Year 3: $36,933 Psychology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $24,116 Year 2: $31,133 Year 3: $34,521 Natural Resources Conservation and Research (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $26,444 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Communication and Media Studies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $21,508 Year 3: N/A Computer and Information Sciences, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $73,129 Year 2: $71,575 Year 3: N/A Education, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $33,281 Year 3: N/A	Psychology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $23,774 Year 2: $17,560 Year 3: $31,573 Natural Resources Conservation and Research (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $26,353 Year 3: N/A Sociology (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $26,353 Year 3: N/A Visual and Performing Arts, Other (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $21,964 Year 3: N/A Business Administration, Management and Operations (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $27,629 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A

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Wells College vs Macalester College

Macalester College

Wells College

Overview

Admission

Tuition and Fees

Financial Aid

Students and Campus

Academics

Outcome

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