Quad

Head-to-head

Key differences

The biggest gaps between these schools, largest first.

  1. 1

    Colgate grads earn $26.8K more ten years out than Oberlin's ($85,139 vs. $58,343)

    Median earnings, 10 yrs
  2. 2

    Oberlin costs about $10.4K less per year on average than Colgate ($51,854 vs. $62,204, all students)

    Average cost, all students
  3. 3

    Oberlin's grants cover 41% of its full price on average, vs. 29% at Colgate

    Aid generosity
  4. 4

    Colgate has 9 pts more first-gen students than Oberlin (18% vs. 9%)

    First-generation students
  5. 5

    Colgate is 1.7× more selective than Oberlin

    Acceptance rate
  6. 6

    Colgate graduates 8 pts more of its students than Oberlin (91% vs. 83%)

    Graduation rate

The shape of each school

Each axis is a national rank among 4-year colleges; further out = more of it.

SelectivityTest scoresSizePell shareFirst-genDiversity

Who's hardest to get into

Colgate admits 20%, Oberlin 34%; Colgate's yield is higher, at 24%.

Acceptance rate
Oberlin34%
Colgate20%
Quad's selectivity
  • OberlinVery selective
  • ColgateHighly selective
SAT middle 50%Axis 1300–1600
Oberlin
1360–1520
Colgate
1430–1540
How they read a recordfirst-years at 3.75+
  • OberlinGPA, school record, and prep program required
  • ColgateRigor, GPA, and rank very important68%

Who's on each campus

Colgate is a bit larger than Oberlin (3,180 vs. 2,887 undergrads) and has the larger Pell share.

Undergrads
Oberlin2.9K
Colgate3.2K
Pell Grant share
Oberlin10%
Colgate13%

Majors and faculty

Music Performance leads at Oberlin, and Econometrics and Quantitative Economics at Colgate; both have 9 students per faculty member.

Students per faculty member
Oberlin9 to 1
Colgate9 to 1
Most popular majorshare of graduates
  • OberlinMusic Performance, General12%
  • ColgateEconometrics and Quantitative Economics14%

What each costs

Oberlin costs about $10.4K less a year than Colgate on average, and its grants cover the larger share of its price.

Average cost, all students
Oberlin$51.9K
Colgate$62.2K
Aid generosity
Oberlin41%
Colgate29%

What each pays off

Colgate's former students earn more, a median $85.1K ten years after enrolling; both graduate more than 80% within six years.

Median earnings, 10 years
Oberlin$58.3K
Colgate$85.1K
Graduation rate
Oberlin83%
Colgate91%

How each has changed

Applications grew at both; Colgate got more selective while Oberlin held steady.

Applications, 10-year change
  • OberlinGrowing+46%
  • ColgateGrowing+137%
All the numbersEvery figure for these colleges in one table, with differences highlighted.
Sources for this comparisonEvery dataset and year behind the numbers in this comparison; tap any ⓘ for one number's source

Figures are the newest each college has published; years can differ between colleges. Each value's ⓘ shows its source and year. Why