Reason #45 You Should Visit
The campus in autumn
Smith at a Glance
Founded in 1871, Smith College opened in 1875 with 14 students. Today, Smith is among the largest women’s colleges in the United States, with students from 48 states and 78 countries. An independent, nondenominational college, Smith remains strongly committed to the education of women at the undergraduate level, but admits both men and women as graduate students.
Enrollment
More than 2,100 undergraduates in Northampton
Tuition and Fees, 2022–23
- Tuition: $58,480
- Room and Board: $20,340
- Student Activities Fee: $288
Financial Aid to the Class of 2025
- Recipients of need-based gift aid from Smith: 63%
- Smith grant range: $1,120-$81,000
- Average need-based grant: $55,000
At Smith we are committed to making a high-quality education possible for women from all economic backgrounds by meeting 100% of the documented need of all admitted students who meet our deadlines. In the fall of 2022, Smith College will eliminate loans from its undergraduate financial aid packages for students receiving need-based institutional grants and replace the loan amount with grants from the college.
President
Kathleen McCartney is Smith’s president.
Faculty
295 professors in more than 50 academic departments and programs; student-faculty ratio of 9:1 in most years
99% of full-time faculty have doctoral or terminal degrees
Courses of Study
About 1,000 courses in more than 50 areas of study.
International Study
Each year 40% of Smith juniors study abroad in Smith programs in Florence, Geneva, Hamburg and Paris, or in programs in Europe, Africa, Asia, Latin America and English-speaking countries in both hemispheres.
Library Holdings
More than 1 million items. Special-subject libraries for the fine and performing arts and the sciences; distinguished collection of women’s history manuscripts; nationally prominent rare book collection.
Residential Life
41 self-governing house communities accommodate between 10 and 100 students; most houses include women from all four classes.
Athletics
11 varsity sports and extensive intramural and club sport programs.
Success After Smith
Two years after graduation, 90 percent of alumnae are employed and 41 percent have enrolled in graduate studies.
Five College Consortium
Student and faculty exchanges, joint faculty appointments, joint course offerings, doctoral programs, combined library catalogues and borrowing privileges between Smith and nearby Amherst, Mount Holyoke and Hampshire colleges and the University of Massachusetts.
Alumnae
More than 45,000 undergraduate and 8,000 graduate degree recipients in all 50 states and more than 120 countries.
Support for Smith
Fundraising campaigns, including Women for the World and Here for Every Voice, have raised a total of $605 million in recent years. It was the largest and most successful campaign ever undertaken by a women’s college. In 2020, the college received the largest gift in its history – $50 million – in support of financial aid and career development.
Graduation Rates
Smith’s six-year undergraduate graduation rate is 90 percent.
Smith, in the Moment
