Swarthmore College

What the IPEDS & College Scorecard Data Shows for Swarthmore College

Swarthmore College operates as a private nonprofit institution located in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania (suburb: large), with a total reported enrollment of 1,613 students of which 1,740 are undergraduates. Institution-level records in the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) classify each school by Carnegie category, ownership sector, and urban/rural locale, which is how this profile’s peer group and cost cohort are determined. Swarthmore College is categorized as “21” under the Carnegie classification system, a meaningful signal when comparing like-to-like institutions.

Selectivity and financial signals give context to what applicants can expect. The reported admission rate is 7.5%, drawn from the most recent IPEDS Fall enrollment survey, with an average SAT of 1,534 and an ACT midpoint of 34. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $23,149, with published in-state tuition of $65,494 and a Pell grant recipient share of 19.5%. Median federal student debt at graduation is $17,500, drawn from the U.S. Treasury-matched College Scorecard file.

Outcomes reveal whether the investment pays back. The 4-year completion rate is 93.2%, and the first-year retention rate is 94.0%. Graduates earn a median of $80,257 ten years after enrolling, compared with $56,211 six years post-enrollment. Within three years of entering repayment, 25800.0% of borrowers are making progress on their federal loans, and 62.4% of graduates earn above the high-school threshold. Treating these numbers as a single snapshot alongside the cost cohort is the standard approach for evaluating ROI under the College Scorecard methodology.