Enrollment Profile

The Bates Mission

Since 1855, Bates College has been dedicated to the emancipating potential of the liberal arts. Bates educates the whole person through creative and rigorous scholarship in a collaborative residential community. With ardor and devotion — Amore ac Studio — we engage the transformative power of our differences, cultivating intellectual discovery and informed civic action. Preparing leaders sustained by a love of learning and a commitment to responsible stewardship of the wider world, Bates is a college for coming times.


Class of 2027 Enrollment Profile

  • Class size 509
  • Admission rate 13%
  • Yield rate 43%

Financial Aid

  • Total grant aid $11.7 million
  • Portion of the class receiving Bates grant aid 39%
  • Portion of the class receiving Pell Grants 11%
  • Average need-based grant $58,413

Home Geography

  • Middle Atlantic 22%
  • Midwest 7%
  • New England 36%
  • Southeast 6%
  • Southwest and West 17%
  • Outside of the U.S. 12%

Demographics

  • Female-identified 48%
  • Male-identified 52%
  • U.S. students of color 28%
  • First generation to college 12%
  • Non-U.S. citizens 11%

Education

  • Public/charter high school 47%
  • Independent/private high school 53%

Testing

Bates has been a national leader in the test-optional movement for three decades. In October 1984, the Bates faculty voted to make standardized testing optional for admission.

  • For those who submitted testing, the middle 50% had score ranges of:
    • SAT Evidence Based Reading and Writing 700-740
    • SAT Math 690-760
    • ACT Composite 32-34

Statistics are accurate as of August 1, 2023