Vassar College vs Mount Holyoke College

Vassar College and Mount Holyoke College, both esteemed liberal arts institutions, offer distinct educational experiences for aspiring undergraduates. Vassar, located in Poughkeepsie, New York, boasts a slightly higher acceptance rate (30%) compared to Mount Holyoke's 26%. While both colleges share a strong focus on the humanities and social sciences, Vassar students have a wider range of majors to choose from, including engineering and computer science. Mount Holyoke, on the other hand, excels in the biological and physical sciences, with a notable strength in neuroscience. The student bodies at these colleges also differ in terms of demographics: Vassar has a slightly larger undergraduate population with a more diverse student body, while Mount Holyoke has a higher percentage of international students. When it comes to graduation rates, both colleges boast impressive records, with Vassar's four-year graduation rate at 86% and Mount Holyoke's at 85%. To help you make an informed decision

	Mount Holyoke College	Vassar College
Overview
Location	South Hadley, Massachusetts	Poughkeepsie, New York
Campus setting	Suburb: Large	Suburb: Large
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Private (Non Profit)	Private (Non Profit)
Calendar system	Semester	Semester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate and Graduate	Undergraduate and Graduate
Students retention rate	91.0%	95.0%
Common app member	Yes	Yes
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	52.3%	20.1%
Application fees	Undergraduate: $60 Graduate: $50	Undergraduate: $65 Graduate: $65
SAT range	1300 - 1510	1420 - 1540
ACT range	31 - 35	32 - 34
Students submitting SAT score	24.0%	31.0%
Students submitting ACT score	11.0%	20.0%
Total number of applicants	3,971	10,884
Total number of admissions given out	2,077	2,193
Admitted students who chose to enroll	608	679
Yield rate	29.3%	31.0%
Test scores (SAT/ACT)	N/A	N/A
High school GPA	Not required	Not required
Recommendation letters	Required	Required
High school transcript	Not required	Not required
English proficiency test (e.g. TOEFL)	Required	Required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	$73,438	$81,330
Average net price	$29,218	$27,249
Tuition	$56,300	$61,940
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $8,320 Meal plan: $8,260	$15,710
Available payment plans	Tuition payment plan	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	100.0% Average amount $30,351	57.0% Average amount $49,162
Students receiving federal student loan	42.0% Average amount $4,906	46.0% Average amount $3,729
Students taking out private loans	7.0% Average amount $4,982	4.0% Average amount $14,435

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	2,220 Men 0.1% Women 99.9%	2,516 Men 38.4% Women 61.6%
Graduate students	122 Men 13.1% Women 86.9%	N/A
Racial/ethnic diversity	Low	Moderate
Out-of-state students	N/A	N/A
International students	23.1%	8.4%
Campus local/setting	Suburb: Large	Suburb: Large
Dormitory capacity	2,171	2,448
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	Mississippi New York California Connecticut Florida	N/A

Academics
Popular study areas	Social Sciences Education Foreign Languages and Literatures Biological and Biomedical Sciences Visual & Performing Arts	Biological and Biomedical Sciences Foreign Languages and Literatures Social Sciences Ethnic Studies Mathematics and Statistics
Students to faculty ratio	10:1	8:1
Institutional accreditation	New England Commission on Higher Education	Middle States Commission on Higher Education

Outcome
Graduation rate	85.0%	92.5%
Dropout rate	2.9%	5.6%
Transferred out	11.9%	2.0%
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	International Relations and National Security Studies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $39,377 Year 2: $45,696 Year 3: $46,206 Education, Other (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $46,986 Year 2: $42,682 Year 3: $46,152 Political Science and Government (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $42,150 Year 2: $35,060 Year 3: $44,038 Anthropology (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $32,925 Year 3: $37,403 Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $30,356 Year 2: $36,852 Year 3: $35,497 Fine and Studio Arts (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $26,353 Year 3: $34,113 Psychology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $31,168 Year 2: $30,409 Year 3: $33,868 English Language and Literature, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $28,960 Year 3: $30,295 History (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $24,035 Year 3: $30,137 Biology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $28,160 Year 2: $28,598 Year 3: $29,034	Computer and Information Sciences, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $64,930 Year 2: $69,535 Year 3: $93,622 Economics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $64,665 Year 2: $57,995 Year 3: $66,026 Mathematics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $59,871 Year 2: $49,683 Year 3: $59,758 Film/Video and Photographic Arts (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $19,233 Year 2: $39,729 Year 3: $45,366 Political Science and Government (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $38,929 Year 2: $31,670 Year 3: $43,616 International Relations and National Security Studies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: N/A Year 3: $40,086 Fine and Studio Arts (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $32,522 Year 2: $35,600 Year 3: $38,666 Psychology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $32,708 Year 3: $38,274 Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $20,008 Year 2: $28,236 Year 3: $36,733 English Language and Literature, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $39,175 Year 2: $30,771 Year 3: $35,465

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