Westminster College vs Bowdoin College

Westminster College and Bowdoin College, both esteemed institutions of higher learning, offer distinct educational experiences. Westminster, a private liberal arts college in Fulton, Missouri, boasts a tight-knit community with a focus on undergraduate teaching and a 100% acceptance rate. Bowdoin, a private liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine, is known for its rigorous academics, coastal location, and selective admissions process with an acceptance rate of 11%. While Westminster's popular majors include education, business, and psychology, Bowdoin's strengths lie in economics, government, and biology. Explore the comparison table below to delve into further details about these colleges, including student body demographics, graduation rates, and more, to help you make an informed decision about your academic journey.

	Bowdoin College	Westminster College
Overview
Location	Brunswick, Maine	New Wilmington, Pennsylvania
Campus setting	Town: Fringe	Town: Fringe
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Private (Non Profit)	Private (Non Profit)
Calendar system	Semester	Semester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate	Undergraduate and Graduate
Students retention rate	97.0%	89.0%
Common app member	Yes	Yes
Religious affiliation		Presbyterian

Admission
Acceptance rate	8.8%	82.1%
Application fees	$65
SAT range	N/A	1040 - 1258
ACT range	N/A	20 - 26
Students submitting SAT score		31.0%
Students submitting ACT score		10.0%
Total number of applicants	9,325	2,475
Total number of admissions given out	822	2,033
Admitted students who chose to enroll	517	305
Yield rate	62.9%	15.0%
Test scores (SAT/ACT)	N/A	N/A
High school GPA	Not required	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	$76,310	$52,150
Average net price	$26,727	$20,258
Tuition	$57,776	$37,630
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $7,630 Meal plan: $8,268	$11,670
Available payment plans	Tuition payment plan	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	54.0% Average amount $45,153	100.0% Average amount $30,669
Students receiving federal student loan	11.0% Average amount $4,767	78.0% Average amount $5,696
Students taking out private loans	1.0% Average amount $20,700	28.0% Average amount $12,975

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	1,951 Men 49.4% Women 50.6%	1,163 Men 46.3% Women 53.7%
Graduate students	N/A	62 Men 32.3% Women 67.7%
Racial/ethnic diversity	Low	Very Low
Out-of-state students	91.5%	N/A
International students	7.1%	0.2%
Campus local/setting	Town: Fringe	Town: Fringe
Dormitory capacity	1,913	998
First year students are required to live on campus?	Yes	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	New York California Maine Connecticut New Jersey	N/A

Academics
Popular study areas	Social Sciences Ethnic Studies Biological and Biomedical Sciences Natural Resources and Conservation Mathematics and Statistics	Education Biological and Biomedical Sciences Business Social Sciences Health Professions
Students to faculty ratio	9:1	12:1
Institutional accreditation	New England Commission on Higher Education	Middle States Commission on Higher Education

Outcome
Graduation rate	93.8%	72.8%
Dropout rate	2.2%	11.9%
Transferred out	4.0%	13.6%
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Computer Science (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $104,192 Year 3: $122,292 Mathematics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $67,101 Year 3: $83,803 Economics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $61,127 Year 2: $71,015 Year 3: $77,719 Political Science and Government (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $51,934 Year 2: $50,231 Year 3: $60,473 Natural Resources Conservation and Research (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $25,194 Year 3: N/A Area Studies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $46,244 Year 2: $42,123 Year 3: N/A Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $32,925 Year 3: N/A English Language and Literature, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $22,771 Year 3: N/A Biology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $44,658 Year 2: $39,009 Year 3: N/A Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $39,454 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A	Accounting and Related Services (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $53,775 Year 3: $60,526 Student Counseling and Personnel Services (Master's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $41,937 Year 3: $51,802 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $41,460 Year 2: $38,649 Year 3: $43,882 Education, Other (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $39,753 Year 2: $34,847 Year 3: $41,931 Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $32,711 Year 3: $38,405 Communication and Media Studies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $32,711 Year 3: $36,169 Educational Administration and Supervision (Master's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $57,318 Year 3: N/A Special Education and Teaching (Master's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $43,798 Year 3: N/A English Language and Literature, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $35,600 Year 3: N/A Biology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $37,208 Year 3: N/A

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