Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) vs Haverford College

Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts and Haverford College, while both esteemed institutions of higher learning, offer distinct educational experiences. MCLA, a public liberal arts college in North Adams, Massachusetts, boasts an acceptance rate of 88%, making it more accessible to a wider range of students. Haverford College, a private liberal arts college in Haverford, Pennsylvania, is highly selective, with an acceptance rate of only 13%. MCLA's student body is predominantly composed of Massachusetts residents, while Haverford's student body is more diverse, with students hailing from across the country and the world. Both colleges offer a variety of popular majors, including social sciences, humanities, and natural sciences, but Haverford also offers engineering and computer science programs. With graduation rates of 58% and 92% respectively, MCLA and Haverford provide students with different levels of academic rigor and support. Explore the comparison table below to discover more key differences between these two institutions and determine which

	Haverford College	Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
Overview
Location	Haverford, Pennsylvania	North Adams, Massachusetts
Campus setting	Suburb: Large	Town: Fringe
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Private (Non Profit)	Public
Calendar system	Semester	Semester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate	Undergraduate and Graduate
Students retention rate	94.0%	63.0%
Common app member	Yes	Yes
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	17.8%	91.0%
Application fees	$65	$50
SAT range	1420 - 1540	N/A
ACT range	33 - 35	N/A
Students submitting SAT score	38.0%
Students submitting ACT score	21.0%
Total number of applicants	5,332	1,371
Total number of admissions given out	951	1,247
Admitted students who chose to enroll	411	167
Yield rate	43.2%	13.4%
Test scores (SAT/ACT)	N/A	N/A
High school GPA	Not required	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	$81,570	In state: $25,928 Out of state: $34,873
Average net price	$24,462	$14,902
Tuition	$60,442	In state: $1,030 Out of state: $9,975
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $10,320 Meal plan: $6,980	Room/dormitory: $7,240 Meal plan: $5,044
Available payment plans	Tuition payment plan	Prepaid tuition plan Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	45.0% Average amount $53,518	99.0% Average amount $8,496
Students receiving federal student loan	15.0% Average amount $4,885	97.0% Average amount $3,734
Students taking out private loans	3.0% Average amount $26,584	12.0% Average amount $9,492

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	1,420 Men 46.3% Women 53.7%	870 Men 39.2% Women 60.8%
Graduate students	N/A	124 Men 33.1% Women 66.9%
Racial/ethnic diversity	Moderate	Low
Out-of-state students	N/A	N/A
International students	10.6%	N/A
Campus local/setting	Suburb: Large	Town: Fringe
Dormitory capacity	1,424	1,020
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	N/A	Mississippi New York Vermont Connecticut Rhode Island

Academics
Popular study areas	Social Sciences Physical Science Computer and Information Science Foreign Languages and Literatures Mathematics and Statistics	Business Education Computer and Information Science Health Professions Biological and Biomedical Sciences
Students to faculty ratio	8:1	9:1
Institutional accreditation	Middle States Commission on Higher Education	New England Commission on Higher Education

Outcome
Graduation rate	90.1%	58.4%
Dropout rate	2.9%	41.6%
Transferred out	6.4%	N/A
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Biology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $35,410 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Psychology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $37,952 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Economics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $60,876 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Political Science and Government (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $41,162 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A	Computer and Information Sciences, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $64,895 Year 2: $63,005 Year 3: $73,830 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $31,172 Year 2: $34,467 Year 3: $40,733 Biology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $42,359 Year 2: $27,181 Year 3: $40,148 Education, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $32,284 Year 3: $35,408 English Language and Literature, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $24,617 Year 2: $32,569 Year 3: $34,741 Sociology (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $31,798 Year 2: $31,828 Year 3: $32,817 Psychology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $28,438 Year 2: $28,236 Year 3: $32,425 Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies, Other (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $34,231 Year 2: $29,374 Year 3: $31,158 Education, General (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $46,032 Year 2: $43,798 Year 3: N/A Visual and Performing Arts, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $20,169 Year 2: $25,194 Year 3: N/A

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