Macalester College vs Harvard

Macalester College and Harvard University, two esteemed institutions of higher learning, stand apart in their unique offerings and student experiences. Macalester, a private liberal arts college in Saint Paul, Minnesota, boasts a tight-knit community and a focus on undergraduate education, while Harvard, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is renowned for its academic rigor and global reputation. With acceptance rates of 28% and 5%, respectively, these institutions cater to different applicant pools. Macalester's popular majors include political science, economics, and biology, while Harvard offers a wide range of disciplines, with computer science, economics, and engineering among the most sought-after. Explore the comparison table below to delve into further details about these institutions, including student body demographics, graduation rates, and more, to determine which aligns best with your academic aspirations and personal preferences.

	Harvard University	Macalester College
Overview
Location	Cambridge, Massachusetts	Saint Paul, Minnesota
Campus setting	City: Midsize	City: 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	96.0%	96.0%
Common app member	Yes	No
Religious affiliation		Presbyterian

Admission
Acceptance rate	4.0%	31.3%
Application fees	Undergraduate: $75 Graduate: $105	$40
SAT range	1480 - 1580	1340 - 1515
ACT range	33 - 36	29 - 33
Students submitting SAT score	54.0%	35.0%
Students submitting ACT score	31.0%	39.0%
Total number of applicants	57,786	9,046
Total number of admissions given out	2,318	2,828
Admitted students who chose to enroll	1,951	601
Yield rate	84.2%	21.3%
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)	Not required	Required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	$78,028	$76,357
Average net price	$13,910	$30,939
Tuition	$51,143	$60,288
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $11,705 Meal plan: $7,236	Room/dormitory: $7,272 Meal plan: $6,270
Available payment plans	Prepaid tuition plan Tuition payment plan	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	56.0% Average amount $59,840	87.0% Average amount $42,832
Students receiving federal student loan	3.0% Average amount $5,180	39.0% Average amount $4,799
Students taking out private loans	2.0% Average amount $8,080	29.0% Average amount $4,321

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	9,579 Men 49.0% Women 51.0%	2,244 Men 43.3% Women 56.7%
Graduate students	21,766 Men 46.3% Women 53.7%	N/A
Racial/ethnic diversity	Moderate	Low
Out-of-state students	N/A	N/A
International students	23.9%	13.5%
Campus local/setting	City: Midsize	City: Large
Dormitory capacity	12,874	1,332
First year students are required to live on campus?	Yes	Yes
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	New York California Texas Illinois New Jersey	N/A

Academics
Popular study areas	Business Health Professions Social Sciences Education Legal Profession	Mathematics and Statistics Foreign Languages and Literatures Multidisciplinary Studies Social Sciences Computer and Information Science
Students to faculty ratio	7:1	10:1
Institutional accreditation	New England Commission on Higher Education	Higher Learning Commission

Outcome
Graduation rate	96.7%	89.7%
Dropout rate	2.0%	10.0%
Transferred out	N/A	N/A
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Statistics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $78,193 Year 2: $128,716 Year 3: $240,408 Law (First Professional Degrees) Year 1: $184,307 Year 2: $165,340 Year 3: $199,043 Business Administration, Management and Operations (First Professional Degrees) Year 1: $171,333 Year 2: $171,907 Year 3: $187,553 Computer Science (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $140,072 Year 2: $128,737 Year 3: $163,896 Advanced/Graduate Dentistry and Oral Sciences (Graduate/Professional Certificates) Year 1: $151,371 Year 2: $174,023 Year 3: $163,512 Public Health (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $123,508 Year 2: $117,916 Year 3: $129,281 Ecology, Evolution, Systematics, and Population Biology (Master's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $106,421 Year 3: $121,832 Applied Mathematics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $102,707 Year 2: $90,856 Year 3: $121,771 Education, General (Doctoral Degrees) Year 1: $97,905 Year 2: $98,670 Year 3: $107,389 Dentistry (First Professional Degrees) Year 1: $68,745 Year 2: $71,486 Year 3: $106,375	Economics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $47,163 Year 2: $64,493 Year 3: $72,135 Mathematics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $60,896 Year 2: $52,107 Year 3: $56,193 Political Science and Government (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $28,635 Year 2: $35,274 Year 3: $43,620 Geography and Cartography (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $28,253 Year 2: $32,569 Year 3: $39,047 International/Global Studies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $22,368 Year 2: $34,526 Year 3: $36,933 Psychology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $24,116 Year 2: $31,133 Year 3: $34,521 Natural Resources Conservation and Research (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $26,444 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Communication and Media Studies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $21,508 Year 3: N/A Computer and Information Sciences, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $73,129 Year 2: $71,575 Year 3: N/A Education, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $33,281 Year 3: N/A

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