Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) vs Swarthmore

Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) and Swarthmore College stand as two distinct institutions of higher learning, each offering unique educational experiences. MCLA, a public liberal arts college in North Adams, Massachusetts, boasts an acceptance rate of 88%, while Swarthmore, a private liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, maintains a highly selective admissions process with an acceptance rate of 11%. MCLA's student body is predominantly composed of Massachusetts residents, while Swarthmore attracts a diverse student population from across the nation and the globe. Both colleges offer a wide range of undergraduate programs, with popular majors at MCLA including Business Administration, Psychology, and Criminal Justice, and popular majors at Swarthmore encompassing Engineering, Economics, and Political Science. While MCLA's graduation rate stands at 56%, Swarthmore boasts an impressive 94% graduation rate. To help you make an informed decision about your higher education journey, we present a comprehensive comparison

	Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts	Swarthmore College
Overview
Location	North Adams, Massachusetts	Swarthmore, Pennsylvania
Campus setting	Town: Fringe	Suburb: Large
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%	95.0%
Common app member	Yes	Yes
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	91.0%	7.8%
Application fees	$50	$60
SAT range	N/A	1430 - 1560
ACT range	N/A	33 - 35
Students submitting SAT score		39.0%
Students submitting ACT score		21.0%
Total number of applicants	1,371	13,012
Total number of admissions given out	1,247	1,013
Admitted students who chose to enroll	167	454
Yield rate	13.4%	44.8%
Test scores (SAT/ACT)	N/A	N/A
High school GPA	Required	Not 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	In state: $25,928 Out of state: $34,873	$75,793
Average net price	$14,902	$19,733
Tuition	In state: $1,030 Out of state: $9,975	$55,856
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $7,240 Meal plan: $5,044	Room/dormitory: $8,796 Meal plan: $8,354
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	76.0% Average amount $40,072
Students receiving federal student loan	97.0% Average amount $3,734	6.0% Average amount $5,191
Students taking out private loans	12.0% Average amount $9,492	1.0% Average amount $30,543

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	870 Men 39.2% Women 60.8%	1,651 Men 49.7% Women 50.3%
Graduate students	124 Men 33.1% Women 66.9%	N/A
Racial/ethnic diversity	Low	Moderate
Out-of-state students	N/A	89.9%
International students	N/A	15.4%
Campus local/setting	Town: Fringe	Suburb: Large
Dormitory capacity	1,020	1,605
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	Yes
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	Mississippi New York Vermont Connecticut Rhode Island	New York California Pennsylvania New Jersey Texas

Academics
Popular study areas	Business Education Computer and Information Science Health Professions Biological and Biomedical Sciences	Visual & Performing Arts Computer and Information Science Engineering Social Sciences Mathematics and Statistics
Students to faculty ratio	9:1	8:1
Institutional accreditation	New England Commission on Higher Education	Middle States Commission on Higher Education

Outcome
Graduation rate	58.4%	94.1%
Dropout rate	41.6%	5.7%
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	Computer and Information Sciences, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $97,897 Year 2: $94,408 Year 3: $113,966 Economics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $56,029 Year 2: $81,702 Year 3: $88,391 Political Science and Government (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $43,119 Year 2: $39,369 Year 3: $44,841 Education, Other (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $47,260 Year 3: $42,944 Biology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $34,425 Year 2: $25,194 Year 3: $36,220 Engineering, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $68,963 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Mathematics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $59,964 Year 2: $125,015 Year 3: N/A Psychology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $43,426 Year 3: N/A

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