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 2028 Enrollment Profile

  • Class size 495
  • Admission rate 13%
  • Yield rate 36%

Financial Aid

  • Total grant aid $12.9 million
  • Portion of the class receiving Bates grant aid 43%
  • Portion of the class receiving Pell Grants 12% (estimated)
  • Average need-based grant $60,656

Home Geography

  • Middle Atlantic 23%
  • Midwest 5%
  • New England 39%
  • Southeast 8%
  • Southwest and West 15%
  • Outside of the U.S. 10%
  • Number of countries represented (other than the U.S.) 29
  • Number of U.S. states represented (including Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico) 40

Demographics

  • Female-identified 55%
  • Male-identified 44%
  • U.S. students of color 32%
  • First generation to college 11%
  • Non-U.S. citizens 10%

Education

  • Public/charter high school 52%
  • Independent/private high school 48%

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 710-750
    • SAT Math 700-780
    • ACT Composite 32-34

Statistics are accurate as of July 25, 2024