by our College Data Analytics TeamSwarthmore College is a private not-for-profit institution in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania enrolling 1,613 undergraduates. It accepts 8% of applicants and has an on-time graduation rate of 92%, above the national average of 33%. College Factual ranks it #156 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in its 2027 Best Colleges ranking (top 3%), and its Value for Your Money analysis rates it a Fair Price.
Source: IPEDS 2025; College Scorecard July 2026; College Factual rankings 2027. Data as of: July 2026.
Swarthmore College ranks #156 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges ranking, placing it in the top 3%.
College Factual analyzes over 2,000 colleges and universities in its annual rankings and ranks them in a variety of ways, including most diverse, best overall quality, best for non-traditional students, and much more.
Swarthmore College was awarded 292 badges in the 2027 rankings.
Swat is ranked #156 out of 5,159 schools in the nation for overall quality on College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges list. This puts it in the top 5% of all schools in the nation.
Swat also holds the #11 spot on the Best Colleges in Pennsylvania ranking.
See all of the rankings for Swarthmore College.
Swarthmore College has a very low acceptance rate of 8%, making it one of the most selective out of all the colleges and universities in the nation. It’s probably a good idea to apply to other schools in addition to Swat just in case you don’t make the cut.
About 39% of students accepted to Swat submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 740 and 770. Math scores were between 750 and 790.
Swat received ACT scores from 16% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT Composite scores ranged between 33 and 35.
Learn more about Swarthmore College admissions.
At Swat, the student to faculty ratio is an excellent 7 to 1. That’s much better than the national average of 15 to 1. This indicates that many classes will probably be small, and students will have ample opportunities to work closely with their professors and classmates.
Another measure that is often used to estimate how much access students will have to their professors is how many faculty members are full-time. The idea here is that part-time faculty tend to spend less time on campus, so they may not be as available to students as full-timers.
The full-time faculty percentage at Swarthmore College is 94%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.
Swarthmore College has a freshmen retention rate of 94%. That’s a good sign that full-time students like the school and their professors enough to want to stick around for another year. It’s also a sign that the admissions team did a good job in choosing applicants who were a good fit for the school.
The on-time graduation rate for someone pursuing a bachelor’s degree is typically four years. This rate at Swat for first-time, full-time students is 92%, which is better than the national average of 33.3%.
Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at Swarthmore College.
In the current academic year, there are 1,613 undergraduates at Swat.
Get more detailed information on the diversity at Swarthmore College.
The average net price of Swat is $17,140. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group. See the table below for the net price for different income groups.
| $0-30 K | $30K-48K | $48-75 | $75-110K | $110K + |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $7,690 | $4,951 | $11,444 | $22,443 | $47,544 |
The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid. Note that the net price is typically less than the published price for a school. For more information on the sticker price of Swat, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.
Almost 66% of college students who graduated with the class of 2018 took out student loans, but that percentage varies from school to school. At Swat, approximately 11% of students took out student loans averaging $6,006 a year. That adds up to $24,024 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate is 0.0%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you’ll be able to pay back your student loans. Get more details about paying for Swarthmore College.
Although some majors pay more than others, students who graduate from Swarthmore College with a bachelor’s degree go on to jobs where they make an average salary of $80,257 in their early years. That’s great news for Swarthmore College students since it is 63% more than the average college graduate’s salary of $49,219 per year.
See which majors at Swarthmore College make the most money.
Swarthmore College is a private not-for-profit institution found in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Swat is located in a safe and convenient suburb. Get more details about the location of Swarthmore College.
Contact information for Swarthmore College are given below.
| Contact Details | |
|---|---|
| Address: | 500 College Ave, Swarthmore, PA 19081 |
| Phone: | 6103288000 |
| Website: | www.swarthmore.edu |
| Wikipedia: | en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swarthmore_College |
| Facebook: | www.facebook.com/SwarthmoreCollege |
| Twitter: | twitter.com/swarthmore |
In the most recent reporting year, students from 18 majors graduated from Swarthmore College. The following table lists the most popular undergraduate majors along with the average salary graduates from those majors make.
| Most Popular Majors | Completions | Average Salary of Graduates |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-Disciplinary Studies | 639 | NA |
| Computer Information Systems | 82 | $97,897 |
| Economics | 75 | $56,029 |
| Mathematics | 69 | $59,964 |
| General Biology | 35 | $34,425 |
| General Engineering | 34 | $68,963 |
| Political Science & Government | 34 | $43,119 |
| General English Literature | 24 | NA |
| Child Development & Psychology | 23 | NA |
| Neurobiology & Neurosciences | 20 | NA |
Curious how schools stack up against Swat? Pit them head to head with College Combat, our free interactive tool that lets you compare colleges on the features that matter most to you.
Footnotes
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
References