Swarthmore College psychology programs include a course major and minor, plus special majors in neuroscience and in psychology and educational studies, all through its Department of Psychology. Swarthmore is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education and is a small, Quaker-founded liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania.
Founded in 1864 by members of the Religious Society of Friends, Swarthmore College is a private liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. It’s undergraduate-only, so every psychology student here is working toward a bachelor’s degree rather than a graduate credential. See what a psychology bachelor’s degree actually covers if you want the broader picture before comparing specific schools like this one. About 1,534 students attend Swarthmore across more than 40 courses of study, and psychology is one of the more popular majors on campus.
Accreditation Details
Swarthmore College is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE), the regional accreditor that reviews the college as a whole. That accreditation is what makes Swarthmore’s credits and degrees transferable and recognized by employers and other schools. The engineering program also carries a separate accreditation from the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET), but psychology falls under the college’s general MSCHE accreditation rather than a program-specific one.
Application Requirements
Admission to Swarthmore weighs several factors together rather than any single number:
- Strength of your high school curriculum and class rank
- Standardized test scores
- Extracurricular commitments
- Application essays
- Recommendations from two academic teachers and one counselor
- An interview, optional but recommended
You’ll need to submit an application for admission along with a counselor recommendation, high school transcripts, and midyear grades if you haven’t graduated yet, plus standardized test scores and two teacher evaluations. Transfer students need at least two completed semesters of college-level work and a strong academic record to be considered.
Tuition and Financial Aid
Tuition at Swarthmore runs $47,070 per year for full-time undergraduate study, with a per-course rate of $5,884 for students taking more than five courses in a semester. About 52 percent of students receive financial aid directly from the college, and roughly 70 percent share more than $40 million in scholarships, loans, and work-study funds each year. You’ll need to file the FAFSA along with Swarthmore’s own financial aid application to be considered for any of it.
Psychology Programs at Swarthmore College
Swarthmore College psychology programs center on clinical, developmental, social, cognitive, and physiological psychology, and every student completes hands-on research as part of the major. If you’re weighing Swarthmore against other top psychology degree programs nationwide, its small size means more direct faculty access than you’d get at a large research university. You can also browse current course listings on the department’s own site.
Psychology Major and Minor
To declare a psychology major, you need two completed psychology courses and good academic standing at the college. From there, the major requires a minimum of eight credits, including at least four core courses covering subjects like behavioral neuroscience, social psychology, and clinical psychology, plus a statistics course as a prerequisite for the department’s research methods course. Every psychology major finishes with a culminating research experience, usually a practicum or a senior thesis, before graduating. The minor is lighter: five credits with psychology faculty and no comprehensive requirement.
Neuroscience and Psychology-Education Special Majors
If a straight psychology major doesn’t cover what you want to study, Swarthmore also offers special majors that combine psychology with another department, most commonly neuroscience (the biological basis of behavior) and psychology and educational studies. Both require approval from both departments involved and typically end in a senior thesis.
Compare Swarthmore’s psychology program against other accredited colleges to see which one fits your budget and career goals.