Albright College vs Swarthmore

Albright College and Swarthmore College, both esteemed institutions of higher learning, offer distinct educational experiences. Albright, a private liberal arts college in Reading, Pennsylvania, boasts an acceptance rate of 75%, while Swarthmore, a private liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, has a highly selective acceptance rate of 11%. Albright's student body is more diverse, with 30% of students identifying as racial or ethnic minorities compared to Swarthmore's 45%. Both colleges offer a wide range of undergraduate programs, with popular majors at Albright including Business Administration, Nursing, and Psychology, and popular majors at Swarthmore including Engineering, Economics, and Political Science. Albright's four-year graduation rate is 68%, while Swarthmore's is 93%. To help you make an informed decision about your higher education journey, we've compiled a comprehensive comparison table highlighting key differences between these two exceptional institutions.
Albright College logo

Albright College

Swarthmore College logo

Swarthmore College

Overview

Location Reading, Pennsylvania Swarthmore, Pennsylvania
Campus setting City: Small 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
Students retention rate 66.0% 95.0%
Common app member Yes Yes
Religious affiliation Methodism

Admission

Acceptance rate 76.3% 7.8%
Application fees $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 5,788 13,012
Total number of admissions given out 4,417 1,013
Admitted students who chose to enroll 342 454
Yield rate 7.7% 44.8%
Test scores (SAT/ACT) N/A N/A
High school GPA Required Not required
Recommendation letters Not required Required
High school transcript Not required Not required
English proficiency test (e.g. TOEFL) Not required Not required

Tuition and Fees

Sticker price $44,854 $75,793
Average net price $20,884 $19,733
Tuition $26,490 $55,856
Room & board
Room/dormitory: $7,190

Meal plan: $5,986
Room/dormitory: $8,796

Meal plan: $8,354
Available payment plans
  • Tuition payment plan
  • Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid

Students receiving financial aid

(Grants & scholarships)

95.0%
Average amount $19,724
76.0%
Average amount $40,072
Students receiving federal student loan 80.0%
Average amount $7,921
6.0%
Average amount $5,191
Students taking out private loans 11.0%
Average amount $15,455
1.0%
Average amount $30,543

Students and Campus

Undergraduate students 1,375
Men 44.7% Women 55.3%
1,651
Men 49.7% Women 50.3%
Graduate students 90
Men 28.9% Women 71.1%
N/A
Racial/ethnic diversity
Moderate
Moderate
Out-of-state students N/A 89.9%
International students 0.6% 15.4%
Campus local/setting City: Small Suburb: Large
Dormitory capacity 1,183 1,605
First year students are required to live on campus? No Yes
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from N/A New York California Pennsylvania New Jersey Texas

Academics

Popular study areas
  • Psychology
  • Business
  • Social Sciences
  • Biological and Biomedical Sciences
  • Visual & Performing Arts
  • Visual & Performing Arts
  • Computer and Information Science
  • Engineering
  • Social Sciences
  • Mathematics and Statistics
Students to faculty ratio 11:1 8:1
Institutional accreditation Middle States Commission on Higher Education Middle States Commission on Higher Education

Outcome

Graduation rate 47.2% 94.1%
Dropout rate 15.3% 5.7%
Transferred out 37.5% N/A
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)
Information Science/Studies (Bachelor's Degrees)
  • Year 1: N/A
  • Year 2: $63,005
  • Year 3: $69,866
Accounting and Related Services (Bachelor's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $53,392
  • Year 2: $50,439
  • Year 3: $54,479
Business Administration, Management and Operations (Bachelor's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $36,448
  • Year 2: $43,612
  • Year 3: $52,519
Business/Commerce, General (Bachelor's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $51,139
  • Year 2: $48,041
  • Year 3: $49,442
Communication and Media Studies (Bachelor's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $31,024
  • Year 2: $38,829
  • Year 3: $48,248
Sociology (Bachelor's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $31,579
  • Year 2: $37,928
  • Year 3: $43,419
Biology, General (Bachelor's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $26,491
  • Year 2: $37,568
  • Year 3: $42,345
Clinical, Counseling and Applied Psychology (Bachelor's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $34,365
  • Year 2: $38,289
  • Year 3: $41,662
Design and Applied Arts (Bachelor's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $29,236
  • Year 2: $35,701
  • Year 3: $39,834
Criminology (Bachelor's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $35,465
  • Year 2: $36,312
  • Year 3: $39,250
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

Compare Similar Colleges

The list of suggested college comparisons provided below is generated automatically by our system, utilizing statistics gathered from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and various online sources. If you don't find the colleges you wish to compare, please visit our comparison page. There, you can search for the specific colleges and initiate your comparison.
Albright College Albright College vs Wesleyan University Wesleyan University
Albright College Albright College vs Bowdoin College Bowdoin College
Albright College Albright College vs Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University
Albright College Albright College vs Harvard University Harvard University
Albright College Albright College vs Massachusetts Institute of Technology Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Albright College Albright College vs Williams College Williams College
Albright College Albright College vs Saint Peter's University Saint Peter's University
Albright College Albright College vs Colgate University Colgate University
Albright College Albright College vs Elmira College Elmira College
Albright College Albright College vs Hamilton College Hamilton College
Albright College Albright College vs LIM College LIM College
Albright College Albright College vs Guilford College Guilford College
Albright College Albright College vs Lenoir-Rhyne University Lenoir-Rhyne University
Albright College Albright College vs Linfield University-McMinnville Campus Linfield University-McMinnville Campus
Albright College Albright College vs Bucknell University Bucknell University
Albright College Albright College vs Central Penn College Central Penn College
Albright College Albright College vs Dickinson College Dickinson College
Albright College Albright College vs Franklin and Marshall College Franklin and Marshall College
Albright College Albright College vs Haverford College Haverford College
Albright College Albright College vs Lafayette College Lafayette College
Albright College Albright College vs Peirce College Peirce College
Albright College Albright College vs Swarthmore College Swarthmore College
Albright College Albright College vs Brown University Brown University
Albright College Albright College vs Texas Lutheran University Texas Lutheran University
Albright College Albright College vs Middlebury College Middlebury College
Albright College Albright College vs Bridgewater College Bridgewater College
Albright College Albright College vs Christopher Newport University Christopher Newport University
Albright College Albright College vs Virginia Wesleyan University Virginia Wesleyan University
Albright College Albright College vs West Virginia Wesleyan College West Virginia Wesleyan College
Albright College Albright College vs Stanford University Stanford University
Albright College Albright College vs DeVry University-Pennsylvania DeVry University-Pennsylvania
Swarthmore College Swarthmore vs Claremont McKenna College Claremont McKenna College
Swarthmore College Swarthmore vs Harvey Mudd College Harvey Mudd College
Swarthmore College Swarthmore vs Pomona College Pomona College
Swarthmore College Swarthmore vs Wesleyan University Wesleyan University
Swarthmore College Swarthmore vs Georgetown University Georgetown University
Swarthmore College Swarthmore vs Northwestern University Northwestern University
Swarthmore College Swarthmore vs University of Notre Dame University of Notre Dame
Swarthmore College Swarthmore vs Grinnell College Grinnell College
Swarthmore College Swarthmore vs Bates College Bates College
Swarthmore College Swarthmore vs Bowdoin College Bowdoin College
Swarthmore College Swarthmore vs Colby College Colby College
Swarthmore College Swarthmore vs Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University
Swarthmore College Swarthmore vs Harvard University Harvard University
Swarthmore College Swarthmore vs Massachusetts Institute of Technology Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Swarthmore College Swarthmore vs Mount Holyoke College Mount Holyoke College
Swarthmore College Swarthmore vs Smith College Smith College
Swarthmore College Swarthmore vs Wellesley College Wellesley College
Swarthmore College Swarthmore vs Williams College Williams College
Swarthmore College Swarthmore vs Hillsdale College Hillsdale College
Swarthmore College Swarthmore vs Carleton College Carleton College
Swarthmore College Swarthmore vs Macalester College Macalester College
Swarthmore College Swarthmore vs Dartmouth College Dartmouth College
Swarthmore College Swarthmore vs Bard College Bard College
Swarthmore College Swarthmore vs Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art
Swarthmore College Swarthmore vs Hamilton College Hamilton College
Swarthmore College Swarthmore vs Sarah Lawrence College Sarah Lawrence College
Swarthmore College Swarthmore vs Union College Union College
Swarthmore College Swarthmore vs Vassar College Vassar College
Swarthmore College Swarthmore vs Davidson College Davidson College
Swarthmore College Swarthmore vs Duke University Duke University
Swarthmore College Swarthmore vs Oberlin College Oberlin College
Swarthmore College Swarthmore vs Reed College Reed College
Swarthmore College Swarthmore vs Franklin and Marshall College Franklin and Marshall College
Swarthmore College Swarthmore vs Haverford College Haverford College
Swarthmore College Swarthmore vs Lafayette College Lafayette College
Swarthmore College Swarthmore vs Brown University Brown University
Swarthmore College Swarthmore vs Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University
Swarthmore College Swarthmore vs Rice University Rice University
Swarthmore College Swarthmore vs Trinity University Trinity University
Swarthmore College Swarthmore vs University of Virginia-Main Campus University of Virginia-Main Campus
Swarthmore College Swarthmore vs Virginia Military Institute Virginia Military Institute
Swarthmore College Swarthmore vs Washington and Lee University Washington and Lee University
Swarthmore College Swarthmore vs Stanford University Stanford University