Swarthmore College

Located in Swarthmore, PA; Swarthmore College was founded in 1864 by Quakers prominent in the abolitionist and women’s rights movements, including the famous Lucretia Mott.  It comes as no surprise that Swarthmore was one of the earliest coeducational colleges in the United States.  Swarthmore is part of the Tri-College Consortium, a co-op among Swarthmore College, Bryn Mawr College, and Haverford College.  The consortium shares an integrated library system and students are able to take classes in all three institutions.  Swarthmore is known as one of the “Little Ivies”, having the distinction of rank as the #3 liberal arts college in the world by U.S. News & World Report.

Another rarity is that Swarthmore is one of the few liberal arts colleges with an engineering program.   Despite its small size, Swarthmore still boasts more than 600 courses a year.  Swarthmore also has a reputation for a policy of “grade deflation”, as practiced by Princeton University.  We actually saw a student on campus sporting a t-shirt proclaiming, “Anywhere else it would’ve been an A.”  Another proud member of the rare elite schools that are “need blind”, Swarthmore has done away with loans, meeting 100% of demonstrated student need with scholarships.

Recent allegations by female students accusing Swarthmore administration of covering up the real number of sexual abuses on campus, has put a blot on the institution.  An independent investigation is ongoing.  Accusations that fraternities harbor “serial rapist” are very real and frightening for any prospective student and their families. 

Students who applied to Swarthmore College also looked at Bryn Mawr College, Williams College, and the University of Pennsylvania. 

For more information on Swarthmore College, visit  http://www.swarthmore.edu/.

Swarthmore College is located at 500 College Avenue Swarthmore, PA  19081  (610) 328-8000