Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) vs Wesleyan University

Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts and Wesleyan University, both esteemed institutions of higher learning, offer distinct educational experiences. MCLA, a public liberal arts college, boasts an acceptance rate of 88%, making it more accessible to a wider range of students. Wesleyan, a private research university, has a more selective admissions process, with an acceptance rate of 15%. MCLA's student body is predominantly undergraduate, while Wesleyan offers both undergraduate and graduate programs. In terms of popular majors, MCLA emphasizes liberal arts and sciences, while Wesleyan offers a broader range of options, including social sciences, humanities, and natural sciences. Explore the detailed comparison table to discover more about these institutions' graduation rates, student demographics, and other key differences that can help you make an informed decision about your academic journey.

	Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts	Wesleyan University
Overview
Location	North Adams, Massachusetts	Middletown, Connecticut
Campus setting	Town: Fringe	City: Small
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Public	Private (Non Profit)
Calendar system	Semester	Semester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate and Graduate	Undergraduate and Graduate
Students retention rate	63.0%	95.0%
Common app member	Yes	Yes
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	91.0%	19.4%
Application fees	$50	$55
SAT range	N/A	1300 - 1510
ACT range	N/A	31 - 34
Students submitting SAT score		51.0%
Students submitting ACT score		27.0%
Total number of applicants	1,371	13,067
Total number of admissions given out	1,247	2,540
Admitted students who chose to enroll	167	910
Yield rate	13.4%	35.8%
Test scores (SAT/ACT)	N/A	N/A
High school GPA	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	In state: $25,928 Out of state: $34,873	$82,245
Average net price	$14,902	$20,535
Tuition	In state: $1,030 Out of state: $9,975	$61,449
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $7,240 Meal plan: $5,044	$17,531
Available payment plans	Prepaid tuition plan Tuition payment plan	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	99.0% Average amount $8,496	40.0% Average amount $58,925
Students receiving federal student loan	97.0% Average amount $3,734	18.0% Average amount $3,834
Students taking out private loans	12.0% Average amount $9,492	2.0% Average amount $27,881

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	870 Men 39.2% Women 60.8%	3,385 Men 43.8% Women 56.2%
Graduate students	124 Men 33.1% Women 66.9%	196 Men 42.3% Women 57.7%
Racial/ethnic diversity	Low	Low
Out-of-state students	N/A	90.3%
International students	N/A	11.3%
Campus local/setting	Town: Fringe	City: Small
Dormitory capacity	1,020	3,063
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	Yes
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	Mississippi New York Vermont Connecticut Rhode Island	New York California Connecticut New Jersey Pennsylvania

Academics
Popular study areas	Business Education Computer and Information Science Health Professions Biological and Biomedical Sciences	Social Sciences Psychology Ethnic Studies Visual & Performing Arts Physical Science
Students to faculty ratio	9:1	8:1
Institutional accreditation	New England Commission on Higher Education	New England Commission on Higher Education

Outcome
Graduation rate	58.4%	91.0%
Dropout rate	41.6%	3.6%
Transferred out	N/A	5.3%
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Computer and Information Sciences, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $64,895 Year 2: $63,005 Year 3: $73,830 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $31,172 Year 2: $34,467 Year 3: $40,733 Biology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $42,359 Year 2: $27,181 Year 3: $40,148 Education, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $32,284 Year 3: $35,408 English Language and Literature, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $24,617 Year 2: $32,569 Year 3: $34,741 Sociology (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $31,798 Year 2: $31,828 Year 3: $32,817 Psychology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $28,438 Year 2: $28,236 Year 3: $32,425 Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies, Other (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $34,231 Year 2: $29,374 Year 3: $31,158 Education, General (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $46,032 Year 2: $43,798 Year 3: N/A Visual and Performing Arts, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $20,169 Year 2: $25,194 Year 3: N/A	Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities (Doctoral Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $53,775 Year 3: $53,847 Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $38,232 Year 2: $36,334 Year 3: $45,541

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.

Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) vs Wesleyan University

Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts

Wesleyan University

Overview

Admission

Tuition and Fees

Financial Aid

Students and Campus

Academics

Outcome

Compare Similar Colleges

Find Colleges By State

Resources

About