Email This PageClass of 2017 Sets Forth
It was another record-setting year for applications at Swarthmore, as 6,615 students vied for admission to the Class of 2017. The College welcomed 389 first-year and 11 transfer students—195 women and 194 men—Sept. 2 from among the 14 percent offered admission. Thirteen percent of new students are the first in their families to attend college.
International students represent 8 percent of the class, while among domestic students, 5 percent identify as African-American, 14 percent as Hispanic/Latina/o, 18 percent as Asian American, and 8 percent as multiracial.
New coding requirements for racial identity set by the U.S. Department of Education give the appearance of a drop in black and Native American numbers and significant increases in the multiracial and hispanic categories, as compared to prior years. For instance, federal rules now mandate that all colleges report any student who checks two or more races as “multiracial.”
New students hail from 40 states, the District of Columbia, and Guam. The Class of 2017 contains 81 members who are either dual citizens, permanent residents, or non-U.S. citizens.
The most popular anticipated majors are engineering, biology, political science, economics, English, mathematics, history, psychology, peace and conflict studies, and sociology and anthropology.
