Swarthmore College has sent letters of admission to 995 prospective members of the Class of 2023. Twenty-seven percent of the admitted students are among the first generation in their family to attend college, and 36 percent are affiliated with local, national, and international community based organizations like Lenfest Scholars, QuestBridge, Venture Scholars, and Bridge2Rwanda. Sixty-five percent of the admitted students come from public and/or charter schools, 25 percent from private independent schools, 10 percent from parochial schools, and one percent are home schooled. Ten percent of all students are from schools overseas. Swarthmore expects to yield a first-year class of about 415 students this fall.

“Swarthmore received another robust and diverse pool of applications this year—more than 11,400. It is exciting to see the increase in interest from both traditionally underrepresented  and underserved students and international students who are recognizing the value of an outstanding residential liberal arts education,” said Jim Bock '90, vice president and dean of admissions. “The students in the admitted class are  thoughtful, inquisitive, and civically engaged individuals who care about the world around them. We are excited to welcome them to Swarthmore, and to see how they will cultivate their remarkable talents to enrich our campus as well as the local and global community .”  

The admitted students come from or represent six continents, 63 nations, and 50 U.S. states as well as American Samoa, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico. California is the most highly represented home state of members in the newly admitted class. Following, in order, are New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Texas, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Washington, Florida, Arizona, and Colorado.

China with 19 students is the most represented nation among non-U.S. citizens in the admitted class. Seven are from Canada and South Korea, five are from Japan and Mexico, three from India, Kenya, Peru, Philippines, Singapore, United Kingdom, and two each are from Australia, Botswana, Brazil, Chile, Germany, Palestine, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. One each is from Bahrain, Belarus, Bhutan, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Colombia, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, France, Ghana, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Malawi, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Rwanda, Sudan, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.

Additionally, there are many students who carry dual citizenship with the U.S. or who have permanent residency whose nationalities are not included in this summary.

Of the admitted students attending high schools reporting class rank, 93 percent are in the top decile.

Engineering is the most popular intended major among the admitted students. Next, in order, are political science, biology, economics, English literature, computer science, mathematics and statistics, peace and conflict studies, biochemistry, sociology, philosophy, and physics.