Swarthmore College welcomes 393 first-year students and 13 transfer students to the campus community this week, as the 2017-18 academic year officially begins. This is the start of the College's 149th year of instruction.

The first-year class was selected from among 9,382 applicants, of whom 11 percent were offered admission.

“Our incoming students show great enthusiasm for the intellectual challenge and collaboration offered by Swarthmore's liberal arts education,” says Jim Bock ’90, vice president and dean of admissions. “The Class of 2021 brings broad geographic diversity to our study body, with 25 percent representing 43 countries. These new students come to us with a wide range of life experiences and ideas that promise to enliven our campus. I'm eager to see how life at Swarthmore will inspire all of our first-year students to use their talents and skills for the common good.”

The Class of 2021 comprises 198 women and 195 men. Among the domestic students, seven percent identify themselves as African American, 11 percent as Hispanic/Latina/o, 16 percent as Asian American, one as Native American, and seven percent as multiracial. In addition, 19 percent are the first generation in their family to attend college, and 21 percent are Pell eligible.

Forty-three states are represented by the members of the incoming class as well as the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico. Pennsylvania is the most popular location for high schools among the new class, followed by New York, California, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Virginia, Delaware, Florida, and Maryland.

The Class of 2021 contains 99 members who are either dual citizens, permanent residents, or non-U.S. citizens representing Australia, Austria, Bhutan, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Cuba, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Ghana, Guinea, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Lebanon, Mexico, Mongolia, Myanmar, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Palestine, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Rwanda, South Korea, Switzerland, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, United Kingdom, Venezuela, and Zambia.

The most popular anticipated majors among Swarthmore’s newest students are engineering, economics, biology, political science, English literature, computer science, mathematics and statistics, physics, and psychology.