Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) vs Principia College

Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts and Principia College, while both offering a unique educational experience, present distinct differences in their academic offerings, student demographics, and campus culture. With an acceptance rate of 85%, MCLA welcomes a diverse student body, while Principia College maintains a highly selective admissions process with an acceptance rate of 49%. MCLA's popular majors include Business Administration, Psychology, and Criminal Justice, while Principia College emphasizes the humanities and sciences, with popular majors such as Biology, English, and History. Explore the detailed comparison table to discover more about these institutions' graduation rates, student-faculty ratios, and other key factors that can help you make an informed decision about your higher education journey.

	Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts	Principia College
Overview
Location	North Adams, Massachusetts	Elsah, Illinois
Campus setting	Town: Fringe	Rural: Fringe
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Public	Private (Non Profit)
Calendar system	Semester	Semester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate and Graduate	Undergraduate
Students retention rate	63.0%	81.0%
Common app member	Yes	Yes
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	91.0%	84.1%
Application fees	$50
SAT range	N/A	1028 - 1193
ACT range	N/A	21 - 28
Students submitting SAT score		30.0%
Students submitting ACT score		13.0%
Total number of applicants	1,371	138
Total number of admissions given out	1,247	116
Admitted students who chose to enroll	167	79
Yield rate	13.4%	68.1%
Test scores (SAT/ACT)	N/A	N/A
High school GPA	Required	Required
Recommendation letters	Required	Not required
High school transcript	Not required	Not required
English proficiency test (e.g. TOEFL)	Not required	Not required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	In state: $25,928 Out of state: $34,873	$42,820
Average net price	$14,902	$19,816
Tuition	In state: $1,030 Out of state: $9,975	$29,970
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $7,240 Meal plan: $5,044	Room/dormitory: $5,810 Meal plan: $6,460
Available payment plans	Prepaid tuition plan Tuition payment plan	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	99.0% Average amount $8,496	94.0% Average amount $25,174
Students receiving federal student loan	97.0% Average amount $3,734	0.0% Average amount $0
Students taking out private loans	12.0% Average amount $9,492	94.0% Average amount $2,016

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	870 Men 39.2% Women 60.8%	321 Men 53.0% Women 47.0%
Graduate students	124 Men 33.1% Women 66.9%	N/A
Racial/ethnic diversity	Low	Low
Out-of-state students	N/A	92.7%
International students	N/A	24.3%
Campus local/setting	Town: Fringe	Rural: Fringe
Dormitory capacity	1,020	585
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	Mississippi New York Vermont Connecticut Rhode Island	Missouri California Texas Illinois Ohio

Academics
Popular study areas	Business Education Computer and Information Science Health Professions Biological and Biomedical Sciences	Visual & Performing Arts Communication and Journalism Computer and Information Science Social Sciences Business
Students to faculty ratio	9:1	5:1
Institutional accreditation	New England Commission on Higher Education	Higher Learning Commission

Outcome
Graduation rate	58.4%	85.9%
Dropout rate	41.6%	14.1%
Transferred out	N/A	N/A
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	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	N/A

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Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) vs Principia College

Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts

Principia College

Overview

Admission

Tuition and Fees

Financial Aid

Students and Campus

Academics

Outcome

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