Dickinson College

In the 2027 U.S. News National Liberal Arts Colleges ranking, Dickinson College placed 54th, moving slightly from 51st in 2019. Gaining admission remains competitive, reflected in an overall admit rate of 42.1% in 2025, which was higher than 33% of peer private liberal arts colleges. This demonstrates that Dickinson maintains greater selectivity than most institutions in its comparison cohort. At the same time, the college enrolled an incoming class with a yield rate of 21.1%, standing higher than 67% of peer institutions. While Dickinson enrolls roughly one in five admitted applicants, its ability to convert admission offers into actual matriculation exceeds that of typical peer schools. For prospective candidates, these figures point to a selective admissions process that turns away the majority of applicants, meaning that an application requires strong alignment with the institution's academic expectations.

Dickinson College follows an admissions policy where test scores are optional, considered if submitted. For applicants evaluating their standing, score ranges from 2025 show that enrolled students scored between 30 and 33 on the composite ACT. In the same year, the college's median SAT performance was higher than 57% of peer schools among similarly ranked private liberal arts colleges. Standardized testing represents a limited portion of the applicant profile, as the SAT submission rate stood at 23% in 2025, alongside a small share of ACT submissions. High school coursework and grades provide the primary foundation for admissions decisions. In the 2023–2024 class, a substantial majority of students achieved high school GPAs at or above the B-plus tier, with heavy representation in the A-minus and solid-A categories. This means competitive candidates typically build their applications on rigorous secondary school transcripts, while submitted scores align closely with selective liberal arts benchmarks.

Dickinson College features a distributed academic curriculum across the liberal arts and sciences rather than concentrating degrees in a single discipline. In 2025, the college conferred 601 bachelor degrees, and the top three undergraduate majors accounted for 22.6% of all graduates. The largest programs by volume were International Business/Trade/Commerce, Political Science and Government, General, and Computer Science. In academic rankings, Dickinson's undergraduate economics program was ranked 161 by U.S. News in 2027, indicating that popular fields are not necessarily nationally high-ranked programs. Nonetheless, early-career compensation shows strong returns in business and analytical fields. According to 2023 earnings data measured one year after graduation, economics graduates earned a median of $73,164, followed by international business and political science. For prospective students, the college provides practical career outcomes across both commerce and liberal arts pathways.

Dickinson College's student body in 2025 was centered almost entirely on undergraduate education, with women making up the majority of enrolled students. International and Asian students represent important segments of the campus community. Among incoming first-year undergraduates, international students numbered 44, accounting for 6.8% of the cohort. Asian students in the first-year class numbered 25, representing 3.9% of entering students. Both groups also maintain ongoing representation among continuing upperclassmen, though white students represent the majority of undergraduates overall. With graduate students numbering only a few individuals, campus life revolves around the undergraduate experience.

Dickinson College’s student body consists almost entirely of traditional-age undergraduates. In 2025, undergraduates in the two youngest age brackets each accounted for roughly equal shares of campus, with the older cohort making up 44.9% of undergraduate enrollment and the younger cohort making up 44.8%. Beyond a minor group of slightly older undergraduates, graduate students numbered just 3 individuals. This concentrated age profile means that campus life and residential housing are oriented almost exclusively around young adults moving directly through a four-year college education.

Dickinson College has seen steady growth in its international undergraduate population, while maintaining no international graduate enrollment. In 2025, international students comprised 12.8% of the undergraduate student body, a share that was higher than 87% of peer private liberal arts colleges. In contrast, graduate programs had zero international students. Among degree recipients in 2025, international students made up 12.6% of bachelor graduates. International graduates were particularly concentrated in quantitative majors, representing 57.1% of graduates in Computer Science and a substantial share in Data Analytics, General. Conversely, traditional humanities and social sciences like political science and psychology had few or no international degree recipients. For prospective international students, these patterns highlight an active presence within the undergraduate community, with strong representation in computational fields.

Applicants exploring Dickinson College can evaluate several alternative higher education options located in the surrounding region of Pennsylvania. Just 25.4 kilometers away is Gettysburg College, a private liberal arts institution tied with Dickinson at rank 54 in the 2027 U.S. News rankings. Located 47.6 kilometers to the east, Franklin and Marshall College is another private liberal arts peer, ranked 34. Further north at a distance of 54.5 kilometers, Bucknell University is a private liberal arts institution holding rank 29. For applicants considering large research universities, Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus sits 53.9 kilometers away and held rank 55 among national universities in 2027.

Campus safety data for Dickinson College shows an overall decline in safety incidents over the past decade, with student conduct violations representing the primary category of recorded occurrences. In 2025, the college's crime rate per 1,000 students was 24.3. Over the three-year period from 2023 to 2025, disciplinary referrals formed the largest category totals, including 168 liquor disciplinary referrals and 66 drug disciplinary referrals. Other reported incidents across those same years included stalking, rape, and sexual harassment, alongside a smaller number of domestic violence cases. These statistics indicate that while serious criminal offenses occur occasionally, the overwhelming majority of logged campus infractions involve alcohol and substance disciplinary enforcement. Families reviewing safety should recognize that institutional disciplinary oversight accounts for most recorded safety activity.