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	Fulton, Missouri
Campus setting	Town: Fringe	Town: 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	97.0%	78.0%
Common app member	Yes	Yes
Religious affiliation		Presbyterian

Admission
Acceptance rate	8.8%	96.7%
Application fees	$65
SAT range	N/A	880 - 1160
ACT range	N/A	18 - 24
Students submitting SAT score		7.0%
Students submitting ACT score		76.0%
Total number of applicants	9,325	1,715
Total number of admissions given out	822	1,658
Admitted students who chose to enroll	517	214
Yield rate	62.9%	12.9%
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	$48,982
Average net price	$26,727	$23,783
Tuition	$57,776	$29,390
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $7,630 Meal plan: $8,268	Room/dormitory: $6,034 Meal plan: $5,380
Available payment plans	Tuition payment plan	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	54.0% Average amount $45,153	99.0% Average amount $22,960
Students receiving federal student loan	11.0% Average amount $4,767	95.0% Average amount $5,641
Students taking out private loans	1.0% Average amount $20,700	8.0% Average amount $8,023

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	1,951 Men 49.4% Women 50.6%	654 Men 57.6% Women 42.4%
Graduate students	N/A	N/A
Racial/ethnic diversity	Low	Low
Out-of-state students	91.5%	22.5%
International students	7.1%	2.1%
Campus local/setting	Town: Fringe	Town: Distant
Dormitory capacity	1,913	637
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	Missouri Arkansas Illinois Oklahoma Tennessee

Academics
Popular study areas	Social Sciences Ethnic Studies Biological and Biomedical Sciences Natural Resources and Conservation Mathematics and Statistics	Business Biological and Biomedical Sciences Education Kinesiology & Leisure Studies Social Sciences
Students to faculty ratio	9:1	11:1
Institutional accreditation	New England Commission on Higher Education	Higher Learning Commission

Outcome
Graduation rate	93.8%	52.3%
Dropout rate	2.2%	47.3%
Transferred out	4.0%	N/A
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	Business Administration, Management and Operations (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $47,260 Year 3: $58,028 Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $32,220 Year 2: $31,495 Year 3: $33,346 Health and Physical Education/Fitness (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $28,721 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A

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