Carleton College vs Bowdoin College

Carleton College and Bowdoin College, both highly regarded liberal arts institutions, offer distinct educational experiences. Carleton, located in Northfield, Minnesota, boasts a slightly higher acceptance rate (23.5% vs. 16.7%) and a smaller student body (2,100 vs. 1,800), fostering a close-knit community. Bowdoin, situated in Brunswick, Maine, excels in the sciences, with popular majors including biology, chemistry, and neuroscience, while Carleton is known for its strengths in the social sciences, with economics and political science among its most popular majors. Both colleges boast impressive graduation rates, with Carleton's at 94% and Bowdoin's at 93%. Explore the detailed comparison table below to discover more about these exceptional institutions and determine which one aligns best with your academic aspirations and personal preferences.

	Bowdoin College	Carleton College
Overview
Location	Brunswick, Maine	Northfield, Minnesota
Campus setting	Town: Fringe	Town: Distant
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Private (Non Profit)	Private (Non Profit)
Calendar system	Semester	Trimester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
Students retention rate	97.0%	95.0%
Common app member	Yes	Yes
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	8.8%	17.5%
Application fees	$65
SAT range	N/A	1408 - 1550
ACT range	N/A	31 - 35
Students submitting SAT score		35.0%
Students submitting ACT score		34.0%
Total number of applicants	9,325	7,915
Total number of admissions given out	822	1,389
Admitted students who chose to enroll	517	555
Yield rate	62.9%	40.0%
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	$76,310	$78,315
Average net price	$26,727	$31,718
Tuition	$57,776	$59,850
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $7,630 Meal plan: $8,268	Room/dormitory: $8,115 Meal plan: $7,260
Available payment plans	Tuition payment plan	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	54.0% Average amount $45,153	65.0% Average amount $45,715
Students receiving federal student loan	11.0% Average amount $4,767	45.0% Average amount $3,914
Students taking out private loans	1.0% Average amount $20,700	2.0% Average amount $14,334

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	1,951 Men 49.4% Women 50.6%	2,044 Men 48.7% Women 51.3%
Graduate students	N/A	N/A
Racial/ethnic diversity	Low	Moderate
Out-of-state students	91.5%	81.5%
International students	7.1%	10.2%
Campus local/setting	Town: Fringe	Town: Distant
Dormitory capacity	1,913	1,854
First year students are required to live on campus?	Yes	Yes
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	New York California Maine Connecticut New Jersey	Minnesota California Illinois New York Texas

Academics
Popular study areas	Social Sciences Ethnic Studies Biological and Biomedical Sciences Natural Resources and Conservation Mathematics and Statistics	Physical Science Social Sciences Ethnic Studies Mathematics and Statistics Visual & Performing Arts
Students to faculty ratio	9:1	8:1
Institutional accreditation	New England Commission on Higher Education	Higher Learning Commission

Outcome
Graduation rate	93.8%	91.4%
Dropout rate	2.2%	8.3%
Transferred out	4.0%	N/A
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Computer Science (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $104,192 Year 3: $122,292 Mathematics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $67,101 Year 3: $83,803 Economics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $61,127 Year 2: $71,015 Year 3: $77,719 Political Science and Government (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $51,934 Year 2: $50,231 Year 3: $60,473 Natural Resources Conservation and Research (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $25,194 Year 3: N/A Area Studies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $46,244 Year 2: $42,123 Year 3: N/A Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $32,925 Year 3: N/A English Language and Literature, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $22,771 Year 3: N/A Biology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $44,658 Year 2: $39,009 Year 3: N/A Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $39,454 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A	Computer Science (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $76,876 Year 2: $76,460 Year 3: $101,936 Economics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $60,032 Year 2: N/A Year 3: $66,207 Biology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $28,526 Year 2: $23,034 Year 3: $30,071 Area Studies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $27,669 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A English Language and Literature, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $27,425 Year 2: $22,329 Year 3: N/A Mathematics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $46,952 Year 2: $37,568 Year 3: N/A Chemistry (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $30,227 Year 2: $36,141 Year 3: N/A Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $20,625 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Physics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $42,774 Year 3: N/A Psychology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $31,301 Year 2: $33,719 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.

Bowdoin College

Claremont McKenna College