Wells College vs Smith College

Wells College and Smith College, both esteemed liberal arts institutions, offer distinct educational experiences for aspiring students. Wells, a small, private college in Aurora, New York, boasts a tight-knit community and a focus on personalized learning, with an acceptance rate of 75% and a student body of around 500 undergraduates. Smith, a larger, private college in Northampton, Massachusetts, is known for its rigorous academics, vibrant campus life, and commitment to women's leadership, with an acceptance rate of 44% and a student body of over 2,600 undergraduates. While both colleges excel in the liberal arts, Wells offers popular majors in fields like psychology, education, and environmental studies, while Smith offers a wider range of majors, including engineering, computer science, and neuroscience. Explore the detailed comparison table below to discover more about these institutions' unique strengths and determine which one aligns best with your academic aspirations and personal preferences.

	Smith College	Wells College
Overview
Location	Northampton, Massachusetts	Aurora, New York
Campus setting	Suburb: 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 and Graduate	Undergraduate
Students retention rate	95.0%	46.0%
Common app member	Yes	Yes
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	29.9%	68.3%
Application fees	$60
SAT range	1370 - 1530	N/A
ACT range	31 - 34	N/A
Students submitting SAT score	34.0%
Students submitting ACT score	20.0%
Total number of applicants	6,064	2,167
Total number of admissions given out	1,814	1,480
Admitted students who chose to enroll	676	140
Yield rate	37.3%	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)	Not required	Required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	$68,128	$49,100
Average net price	$29,569	$19,963
Tuition	$55,830	$30,950
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $9,700 Meal plan: $9,720	Room/dormitory: $11,800 Meal plan: $3,000
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	100.0% Average amount $27,321
Students receiving federal student loan	35.0% Average amount $3,560	83.0% Average amount $5,847
Students taking out private loans	5.0% Average amount $8,280	19.0% Average amount $13,131

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	2,566 Men 0.1% Women 99.9%	342 Men 39.5% Women 60.5%
Graduate students	358 Men 16.2% Women 83.8%	N/A
Racial/ethnic diversity	Moderate	Moderate
Out-of-state students	N/A	N/A
International students	13.4%	1.2%
Campus local/setting	Suburb: Large	Rural: Distant
Dormitory capacity	2,519	442
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	Mississippi New York California Connecticut Maryland	N/A

Academics
Popular study areas	Public Administration and Social Service Engineering Social Sciences Foreign Languages and Literatures Mathematics and Statistics	Business Biological and Biomedical Sciences Natural Resources and Conservation Education History
Students to faculty ratio	9:1	9:1
Institutional accreditation	New England Commission on Higher Education	Middle States Commission on Higher Education

Outcome
Graduation rate	91.0%	55.0%
Dropout rate	3.6%	45.0%
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	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 Smith College

Smith College

Wells College

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Financial Aid

Students and Campus

Academics

Outcome

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