Scripps College

Scripps College placed 38th in the 2027 U.S. News National Liberal Arts Colleges ranking, having shifted down from 26th in 2018. Admission has become somewhat more accessible over this timeframe while remaining selective. In 2025, the female admit rate reached 38.3%. When evaluated against a group of peer private liberal arts colleges, Scripps admitted a higher share of applicants than 70% of peer schools. The college also maintains a measured pull among those who receive an offer of admission. Its yield rate stood at 25.6% in 2025, indicating that roughly a quarter of admitted applicants decided to enroll. For prospective applicants, these patterns suggest that gaining entry is relatively more attainable than at many closely ranked liberal arts peers, but accepted students frequently consider other college choices before deciding where to attend.

Applicants aiming for Scripps College must demonstrate strong secondary school performance to align with admitted profiles. In the 2022-2023 academic year, 79% of admitted students entered with a high school GPA of 4.0, showing that top marks are standard among successful candidates. Standardized test results similarly reflect high academic standards among submitters. For 2025, the college's median SAT score reached 1500, which was higher than 90% of peer schools in its comparison group of reporting private liberal arts colleges. Students presenting ACT results also recorded strong marks, typically finishing in the low thirties. These benchmarks illustrate that admitted students consistently present exceptional academic records, meaning prospective candidates should demonstrate sustained academic excellence across rigorous high school coursework to remain competitive.

Graduation patterns at Scripps College show a dispersed academic landscape rather than a heavy concentration in only a couple of disciplines. In 2025, the college awarded 301 bachelor's degrees, and the top three majors together accounted for only 24.6% of all graduates. The most popular subjects included Political Science and Government, General, alongside Research and Experimental Psychology, Other, and Mass Communication/Media Studies, with additional students finishing degrees in Biology/Biological Sciences, General and Environmental Science. None of these individual majors carry external subject rankings in the available records. For post-graduation earnings, 2023 data show that graduates in Political Science and Government earned a median salary of $62,909 one year after leaving campus. Overall, international students made up only a small fraction of degree completers. For prospective students, this distribution indicates a balanced liberal arts curriculum where academic interests are spread widely across the social and biological sciences rather than dominated by a single track.

The student body at Scripps College is small and structured primarily around an all-female undergraduate population. In 2025, total enrollment across all levels stood at 1,137 students, with the vast majority enrolled in undergraduate coursework. Racial and geographic diversity is visible within each cohort, with Asian and international students forming notable communities on campus. Among the entering first-year undergraduate class, there were 52 Asian students, making up 16.6% of the cohort. International enrollment in that same incoming group accounted for 20 students. Within the larger continuing undergraduate population, Asian students numbered over one hundred, while international students maintained a steady presence across advanced class years. Graduate students and transfer students comprise only a tiny fraction of total campus enrollment. For prospective applicants, this composition defines an intimate, predominantly female liberal arts environment where distinct cultural backgrounds are represented throughout the undergraduate classes.

Scripps College maintains an undergraduate community composed almost entirely of traditional college-age students, alongside a very small graduate presence. In 2025, students aged 20 to 21 accounted for 46.4% of all undergraduates, while those aged 18 to 19 made up 43.3%. The remaining undergraduates were mostly in their early twenties. In contrast, the graduate program enrolled 21 students, with 57.1% falling into the 25 to 29 age group. For applicants, this demographic structure means daily campus life revolves around peers in their late teens and early twenties who entered directly from high school, with virtually no older adult learners among undergraduates.

International enrollment at Scripps College represents a modest portion of the student body. In 2025, international students made up 4.6% of the undergraduate population, a share that has remained essentially flat over the past decade. Compared to a peer group of private liberal arts colleges, this 4.6% international representation was higher than only 10% of peer schools. At the graduate level, the college recorded zero international students in 2025. Among graduating seniors, international representation is similarly limited: international students accounted for 2.3% of all bachelor's degree recipients in 2025. When looking at major fields, these graduates were concentrated in select disciplines, comprising 8.7% of graduates in Mass Communication/Media Studies and a smaller fraction in Research and Experimental Psychology, Other, while larger majors like Political Science and Biology had none. For overseas applicants, these figures mean that the international undergraduate cohort is relatively small compared to peer institutions.

Applicants exploring Scripps College can evaluate several close neighbors in Southern California. Immediately adjacent within the same consortium are Claremont McKenna College, ranked 3rd among National Liberal Arts Colleges just 0.1 kilometers away, and Harvey Mudd College, ranked 8th in the same category only 0.2 kilometers away. Another direct neighbor is Pomona College, which also ranks 3rd among National Liberal Arts Colleges and sits 0.4 kilometers from campus. In addition to these nearby liberal arts peers, large research institutions are located in the broader metropolitan area, including California Institute of Technology, ranked 5th among National Universities and situated 23.8 kilometers away.

Campus safety at Scripps College has tracked in a positive direction over the past decade. The crime rate per 1,000 students decreased from previous levels to 23.7 in 2025. Looking across the three-year period from 2023 to 2025, the campus community experienced incidents centered primarily on property offenses and student conduct violations rather than violent crime. The most common reports during those years involved theft, with 34 total incidents, followed by 29 incidents of motor vehicle theft. Disciplinary referrals for alcohol and drug policy infractions also contributed to campus incident totals over this timeframe, while personal safety violations remained less frequent. For students evaluating campus life, these figures indicate that while routine property security requires sensible precautions, the overall campus environment maintains moderate and improving safety indicators over time.