What kind of school it is, in one sentence
Connecticut College is a private, nonprofit, four-year, medium-sized, liberal arts and sciences college with a very residential campus life. The system that classifies this country's colleges places it in its more selective admissions group. That does not tell you how many out of every hundred applicants get in—we will see that later, with its own number—but it does tell you the kind of door your child would be knocking on.
"Very residential" is not a decorative phrase. It means that, in the data used for this classification, at least half of degree-seeking students lived in school-owned or school-controlled housing, and that at least 80 out of every 100 studied full time. If your child plans to live at home, that fact matters: the dominant pattern here is living on campus, although that does not mean it is required or that it is the only option in your case. And living there is not free: room and board are charged separately from tuition, something we will see with exact figures in the costs section.
Connecticut College is in New London, within the Norwich-New London-Willimantic metropolitan area. That tells you where the campus is, not how to get there or how long it takes your child to cross the city. If you live nearby and are considering having your child live at home, drive the route yourself on a weekday, at the actual time of their classes. The map almost never tells the whole truth.
It is an institution that awards bachelor's degrees as its highest reported level. That is an institutional fact, not a guarantee about the specific program that interests your child: before deciding, you need to verify that the major exists and what it leads to.
And a clarification worth making early: Connecticut College is not listed as a historically Black college or university, a tribal college or university, or a land-grant institution. These are three different designations, with different histories, and of the 3,012 colleges in this directory, only 138 have any of them. The fact that Connecticut College has none of them says nothing about which students it serves or how your child would feel there. Ask directly: which cultural centers exist today, which student organizations exist, and whether you can speak with someone who already studies there.
Who else is in the classroom with your child
There are 1,995 enrolled students here, almost all undergraduates—there is no graduate enrollment in the count—and almost all full time. It is a medium size: neither among the large nor the small ones, compared with similar selective private schools.
Out of every 100 students, 61 are women. And out of every 100 undergraduate students, 11 are Hispanic or Latino. It is a small minority, although it is above half of the 941 comparable selective private schools that report this fact, without reaching the highest quarter. Put plainly: Latinos are few here. That does not have to remove the school from your child's list, but it is a reason to ask, during the visit, what concretely exists for Latino students: a student group, a cultural center, someone in the office who speaks Spanish.
Another fact worth keeping in mind: fewer than 25 out of every 100 first-time students had permanent residence in Connecticut. It was 12 out of every 100. The rest come from other states, other countries, or their residence was not reported clearly. This does not measure distance or travel cost, but if your child would consider going far from home, it is useful to know that most classmates also came from elsewhere.
Being a medium-sized school does not automatically mean more options or more personal attention for your child. Ask that by specific major, not by the institution's overall size.
How the academic year is organized
The calendar operates on semesters: two long periods of about 15 weeks each. The institution accepts credit through AP exams, but did not indicate that it awards credit for life experience. Saying they accept AP does not mean they will give credit for any exam with any score: request that in writing, with the equivalency table in hand, before enrolling and before budgeting for any savings of time or money.
It also enrolls high school students in college-credit courses, within a formal program.
In a recent year, Connecticut College awarded 420 bachelor's degrees, distributed across 17 families of majors. The family with the most degrees was social sciences: 127 of the 420, or 30 out of every 100. This counts degrees awarded, not quality or employability. If your child is interested in a specific major, ask directly how many students graduated in it last year, how long it took them, and what the complete curriculum is like.
A number that often matters a great deal to families: the student-to-instructional-staff ratio is 9 to 1. It is one of the lowest ratios among the 941 comparable selective private schools—it is in the bottom quarter, meaning lower than that of three out of every four similar schools. But be careful: this aggregate ratio does not measure actual class size or guarantee individual attention. Ask directly how many students are in first-year classes for the major that interests your child.
Connecticut College also reports structured academic opportunities: study abroad and undergraduate research as cocurricular activities.
Getting in: what the college asks for and what actually happens
Let's start with the simplest thing: the undergraduate application has no cost. The published fee is $0.
Connecticut College does not have open admission: there are items it reviews before saying yes. Of nine possible considerations, excluding standardized tests and legacy, it marks four as required: the high school record, the personal essay, letters of recommendation, and the English-language proficiency test for applicants to whom it applies. Put simply: here, it is not enough to gather paperwork. Your child has to write an essay, no exceptions.
Other items are not required but are considered if submitted: high school grade-point average, class rank, completing the course plan the college requires, a portfolio or work sample, work experience, and whether a family member studied there. That last point—legacy—is something your child cannot change. If it does not apply in your case, do not spend energy on it. Spend it on what is within their control.
Now for the figures at the real door. In the 2023 cycle, Connecticut College received 9,397 first-time applications and offered admission to 3,597. That is 38 out of every 100. Compared with 942 similar selective private schools, it falls on the low side: seven out of every ten of those schools, or more, admit a higher percentage of their applicants. On the other side of that count are 5,800 applicants who did not receive an offer. It is fine for Connecticut College to be on your child's list. For it to be the only one, no.
And here comes a number that many families do not know and that is worth understanding well: out of every 100 admitted students, only 15 ultimately enrolled. The other 85 had a place here and did not take it. Do not read it as a stain on the school—the federal record does not say why each person decided what they decided—but do not ignore it either: receiving an acceptance letter is not the same as deciding to attend. What others decided does not tell you what they will offer your child. Wait for their financial-aid letter, with the net price in front of you, before deciding whether this school remains on the final list.
The SAT and ACT are not required here. If your child submits them, they are considered; if not, the application remains valid. Of the students who enrolled, 18 out of every 100 submitted SAT scores, and among them the middle half scored between 680 and 740 in reading and writing, and between 660 and 730 in math. That 680 is not a minimum for admission, and that 740 is not a guarantee of anything either: these are data for students who had already enrolled, not all who applied.
Regarding transfers: of a cohort that entered in 2017 seeking a bachelor's degree, 15 out of every 100 transferred without completing here and enrolled at another school. Transferring is not failing. But if there is a possibility that your child may need to move at some point, it is useful to know beforehand how records are requested and which credits are recognized at the destination—that is not stated by this number; request it in writing.
The sticker price: the figure that scares you before knowing what is actually paid
At Connecticut College, among 37 first-time, full-time students seeking a credential who received federal Title IV aid and whose EFC records showed family income below $30,000, the average net price was $13,666. Among 34 students in the same population with family EFC income from $48,001 to $75,000, it was $26,760; among 137 students with family EFC income above $110,000, $44,604. For dependent students, the band adds their parents' income and their own.
Between the average for the lower-income band (37 students) and that for the higher-income band (137 students), there is a difference of $30,938. These are group averages, not a prediction of your family's price. Among first-year students who received any grant or scholarship, the average was $42,941.
Among the 937 schools of the same type and control included in this census that reported this fact with the same time coverage, this one falls in the least expensive quarter for lower-income families, after grants are subtracted. That does not mean it is inexpensive for your family. It is a fact that matters when you make the list of schools to apply to.
Because the price changes so much from one income band to another, placing yours correctly is the first step. The income bands in this profile describe first-time, full-time students seeking a credential who received federal Title IV aid; at public institutions they use the in-state or district rate. The overall average with grants, when it appears, describes first-time, full-time students seeking a credential who received federal, state, local, or institutional grants or scholarships. The one that matters is the aid letter you receive.
The aid that exists, and the aid that is not for everyone
At Connecticut College, 99 out of every 100 degree-seeking students received some grant or aid that does not have to be repaid. Here, receiving something is common, not the exception. Among those who received it, the average was $36,740 for the year—an average that hides those who received much more and those who received much less.
But there is an important distinction: the Pell Grant, which is federal aid specifically for low-income families, reached only 15 out of every 100 students. In other words, at least 84 out of every 100 received aid that was not Pell, but rather from another source—from the school itself, the state, or elsewhere. The report does not distinguish where each grant came from. So you cannot draw from this what your family specifically would receive: ask directly who awards that grant, who qualifies, and what is needed to renew it each year.
A high average among those who received aid does not predict the size of your child's offer. When their letter arrives, what matters is how much your family would have to pay out of its own pocket. That is the number to compare among schools, not the size of the advertised discount.
Loans: who borrows, how much, and whose debt it is
36 out of every 100 undergraduate students at Connecticut College received a federal student loan in the 2022-23 year. That is more than two out of every ten, but less than half. Compared with 942 similar selective private schools, this school falls on the low side: seven out of every ten of those schools, or more, had a larger share of students with loans.
Of those who did borrow, each received $6,088 on average that year. Here it is important to be precise: this figure is only for those who received a loan, not for all undergraduates. And it is for one year only, only for federal loans in the student's name—it does not include Parent PLUS loans that parents sometimes end up signing, bank debt, or credit-card debt. Nor is it the total debt someone has when they graduate; for that, you would have to add all four years, and that number is not in this report.
Which group your child falls into—the group that gets through without debt or the group that borrows—is not decided by this percentage. It is decided by the financial-aid letter they receive, in writing. Wait for it before ruling out the school and before committing to it.
Connecticut College also offers a tuition installment payment plan as a mechanism for managing the cost.
Campus life, sports, and support
Connecticut College has its own housing. It does not require all full-time first-time students to live there—that denies a universal requirement, although a specific program could require it, so it is worth confirming. The reported maximum capacity is 1,947 students. It also offers meal plans, with the largest having a fixed number of meals per week. Having housing does not guarantee an available bed: request in writing the year's rate, the application deadline, and whether you are guaranteed a place or placed on a waitlist.
Regarding ROTC: in its most recent report, Connecticut College did not mark any ROTC opportunity, neither the general box nor any specific branch. Of the 1,786 four-year institutions in this guide, 926 did mark it; this one was not among them. The absence of a mark does not prove there is no nearby option. If that scholarship matters to your family, ask admissions directly before giving it up as lost.
In sports, Connecticut College does compete at the intercollegiate level and is affiliated with the NCAA—not the NAIA or other associations. It reports membership specifically in basketball and cross-country or track and field. The affiliation belongs to the school, not your child: if they are interested in playing, write directly to the coach, ask whether there is room on the team, what division they compete in, and whether that sport awards athletic scholarships.
Regarding distance education: the school does offer distance courses at the undergraduate level, but in the most recent count, zero out of every 100 students took their entire course load that way. All took at least one in-person class. The institution also reported that it does not offer a complete program in which all required courses can be taken at a distance. If this is relevant to your child, confirm it in writing and by specific major.
The library operates with hired staff, and its annual spending exceeded the government-recorded threshold of $100,000. It has a physical and digital collection, and participates in interlibrary loan. Exceeding that threshold does not mean it has the specific databases your child's major needs: ask by name of major.
Among the services the institution reports are combined academic and career counseling, employment services for current students, placement services for those who complete their programs, participation in the Yellow Ribbon program, and a published address for disability services.
Do they stay? Do they graduate? What the record says
Of the cohort that entered in fall 2022 (630 full-time, first-time students seeking bachelor's degrees), 548 met the official retention criterion: 87 out of every 100 were still enrolled here or had already completed their degree one year later. Compared with 930 similar selective private schools, Connecticut College falls in the upper part: it retains a larger share of its cohort than most peers. But this number combines two different groups—those who remain enrolled and those who have already graduated—without separating them, and says nothing about the destination of the 82 left out of that count.
Regarding graduation: of a cohort of 443 full-time students who entered in 2017, 371 had their degree in hand six years later. That is 84 out of every 100. With the four-year time frame, the figure drops to 76 out of every 100—a difference of 8 points between waiting four years and waiting six. Compared with 920 similar selective private schools, Connecticut College is among those that graduate the most students: nine out of every ten of those schools, or more, reported an equal or lower share.
Of those original 443 students: 371 completed here, 66 transferred to another institution without completing at Connecticut College, 2 remained enrolled without completing within the time frame, and 4 fell into the federal category of "no longer enrolled"—a category that does not explain the reason and may include people who later completed outside the counting time frame.
A high graduation number is not a promise for your child in particular: it is what happened to the cohort that entered in 2017. What is within your family's control is entering with credits in order and, from the first semester, knowing who their adviser is and when the courses they need are scheduled.
Finally, a longer-term fact: following a cohort that entered between July 2015 and June 2016, as of August 2023, eight years later, 81 out of every 100 had a degree or certificate from this institution. Among those who specifically received a Pell Grant, the figure was 79 out of every 100—three points below the non-Pell group. Compared with 935 similar schools, Connecticut College falls in the upper quarter on this indicator. It is an earlier cohort, and a high percentage does not predict the outcome for a particular person. It is worth asking about the program's current supports and results from more recent cohorts.
What this article cannot tell you
There is no information in the official data I consulted about what happens after graduation: employment, salaries, or debt at the time of completing a degree. That is the territory of other research, with other sources.
Putting the pieces together
You now know, in considerable depth, one piece of the puzzle: what Connecticut College actually is and offers, according to its own federal report. It is selective, expensive at the sticker price, generous in the percentage of students who receive some grant or scholarship, with a low student-to-faculty ratio, with strong retention and graduation compared with similar schools, and with a still-small Latino community.
Now it remains to put this together with what your child wants to study and what they have built so far, and with what your family can and is willing to pay. This article has neither of those two pieces, and no figure here decides for you. The decision comes from the admission letter, the financial-aid letter, and the conversation you have at home with all the information in front of you.
Source note: the information in this article comes from IPEDS and the U.S. Department of Education, primarily from reports corresponding to the 2022-23 and 2023-24 cycles, as indicated in each section. Best College Aid does not represent Connecticut College or any government agency; this article is an independent explanation of public data.