Bates College vs Bard College

Bates College and Bard College, both esteemed liberal arts institutions, offer distinct educational experiences. Bates, located in Lewiston, Maine, boasts a lower acceptance rate (13%) compared to Bard's (40%) in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. While Bates students predominantly pursue majors in the social sciences, Bard's curriculum emphasizes the arts, with popular majors including film, music, and theater. Bard's student body is more diverse, with a higher percentage of international students and students of color. In terms of outcomes, Bates has a slightly higher graduation rate (89%) than Bard (86%). Explore the detailed comparison table below to discover more key differences and determine which college better aligns with your academic aspirations and personal preferences.

	Bard College	Bates College
Overview
Location	Annandale-On-Hudson, New York	Lewiston, Maine
Campus setting	Town: Fringe	City: Small
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Private (Non Profit)	Private (Non Profit)
Calendar system	Semester	4-1-4
Degrees offered	Undergraduate and Graduate	Undergraduate
Students retention rate	87.0%	92.0%
Common app member	No	Yes
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	59.9%	17.3%
Application fees	Undergraduate: $50 Graduate: $65	$60
SAT range	N/A	N/A
ACT range	N/A	N/A
Students submitting SAT score
Students submitting ACT score
Total number of applicants	5,167	7,319
Total number of admissions given out	3,096	1,267
Admitted students who chose to enroll	473	553
Yield rate	15.3%	43.6%
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	$72,868	$77,870
Average net price	$24,318	$26,231
Tuition	$57,498	$59,062
Room & board	$16,760	$16,658
Available payment plans	Prepaid tuition plan Tuition payment plan	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	79.0% Average amount $50,598	36.0% Average amount $50,509
Students receiving federal student loan	49.0% Average amount $5,101	12.0% Average amount $4,182
Students taking out private loans	2.0% Average amount $16,225	3.0% Average amount $23,825

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	2,171 Men 44.4% Women 55.6%	1,821 Men 48.6% Women 51.4%
Graduate students	420 Men 40.2% Women 59.8%	N/A
Racial/ethnic diversity	Moderate	Low
Out-of-state students	N/A	N/A
International students	14.7%	8.7%
Campus local/setting	Town: Fringe	City: Small
Dormitory capacity	1,400	1,816
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	Yes
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	N/A	N/A

Academics
Popular study areas	Liberal Arts Visual & Performing Arts Business Education Natural Resources and Conservation	Physical Science Social Sciences Ethnic Studies Foreign Languages and Literatures Psychology
Students to faculty ratio	9:1	10:1
Institutional accreditation	Middle States Commission on Higher Education	New England Commission on Higher Education

Outcome
Graduation rate	70.6%	91.7%
Dropout rate	9.9%	2.3%
Transferred out	18.3%	5.8%
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $45,261 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A English Language and Literature/Letters, Other (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $19,624 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Biological and Physical Sciences (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $30,818 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Social Sciences, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $24,172 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Fine and Studio Arts (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $17,518 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Fine and Studio Arts (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $38,944 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Music (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $27,353 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $51,051 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A	Economics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $55,768 Year 2: $69,338 Year 3: $73,497 History (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $51,273 Year 3: $55,661 Political Science and Government (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $50,568 Year 2: $38,289 Year 3: $53,638 Natural Resources Conservation and Research (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $22,883 Year 2: $26,353 Year 3: $35,020 Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $22,192 Year 3: N/A English Language and Literature, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $30,771 Year 3: N/A Biology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $33,170 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Neurobiology and Neurosciences (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $36,112 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Mathematics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $39,731 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Psychology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $39,657 Year 2: $25,194 Year 3: N/A

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