Quad

Head-to-head

Key differences

The biggest gaps between these schools, largest first.

  1. 1

    Lafayette costs about $6.3K less per year on average than Colgate ($55,911 vs. $62,204, all students)

    Average cost, all students
  2. 2

    Colgate is 1.6× more selective than Lafayette

    Acceptance rate
  3. 3

    Colgate's SAT midpoint is 65 points higher than Lafayette's

    SAT midpoint
  4. 4

    Lafayette grads earn $6.3K more ten years out than Colgate's ($91,410 vs. $85,139)

    Median earnings, 10 yrs
  5. 5

    Lafayette's grants cover 33% of its full price on average, vs. 29% at Colgate

    Aid generosity
  6. 6

    Colgate has 3 pts more first-gen students than Lafayette (18% vs. 15%)

    First-generation students

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%, Lafayette 31%; Colgate's yield is higher, at 24%.

Acceptance rate
Lafayette31%
Colgate20%
Quad's selectivity
  • LafayetteVery selective
  • ColgateHighly selective
SAT middle 50%Axis 1300–1600
Lafayette
1360–1490
Colgate
1430–1540
How they read a recordfirst-years at 3.75+
  • LafayetteRigor and GPA very important37%
  • ColgateRigor, GPA, and rank very important68%

Who's on each campus

Colgate is a bit larger than Lafayette (3,180 vs. 2,757 undergrads) and has the larger Pell share.

Undergrads
Lafayette2.8K
Colgate3.2K
Pell Grant share
Lafayette12%
Colgate13%

Majors and faculty

Econometrics and Quantitative Economics leads at both; Colgate has 9 students per faculty member to Lafayette's 10.

Students per faculty member
Lafayette10 to 1
Colgate9 to 1
Most popular majorshare of graduates
  • LafayetteEconometrics and Quantitative Economics18%
  • ColgateEconometrics and Quantitative Economics14%

What each costs

Lafayette costs about $6.3K less a year than Colgate on average, and its grants cover the larger share of its price.

Average cost, all students
Lafayette$55.9K
Colgate$62.2K
Aid generosity
Lafayette33%
Colgate29%

What each pays off

Lafayette's former students earn more, a median $91.4K ten years after enrolling; both graduate more than 80% within six years.

Median earnings, 10 years
Lafayette$91.4K
Colgate$85.1K
Graduation rate
Lafayette89%
Colgate91%

How each has changed

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

Applications, 10-year change
  • LafayetteGrowing+31%
  • 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