Higher-Ed Database

The Bryn Mawr College network

A tiny city where building height is student body size, and each district is better in its own way.

PA

3 colleges with a similar mix of majors, each also teaching social sciences, biological & biomedical sciences, and interdisciplinary studies, are the same or better on all of yield, graduation rate, cost. That's fewer than 20: few schools like this one beat it on every count.

See it as a table
CollegeSizeYieldGraduation rateCost
Bryn Mawr College (your pick)1,36032%82%$83,250
Smith College2,5491.9× as many undergrads35%same89%better$86,030same
Wesleyan University3,8052.8× as many undergrads35%same93%better$89,020same
Colorado College2,0311.5× as many undergrads30%same88%better$87,128same

From IPEDS, academic year 2024-25 (sticker prices from the year before where this year's are not out yet). “Similar mix of majors” means close on the degrees students finish, subject by subject, and on how many. Only colleges a student choosing Bryn Mawr College would also weigh are counted: each must award at least 1% of its bachelor's degrees in every one of Bryn Mawr College's 3 largest subjects; a special-focus school (a conservatory, art school, seminary, or the like) is compared only with schools of the same focus; and colleges with a strong religious mission are compared only with each other. Yield and graduation rate count as the same when they are less than 4 points apart; sticker price when it is within 10%. Better cost means cheaper. Sticker price is before financial aid, and for public colleges is the average of the in-state and out-of-state prices.