Bates College Overview

Bates College is a private not-for-profit institution situated in Lewiston, Maine. The surrounding area of the school is a good match for students who enjoy city life.

What Is Bates College Known For?

• Students who want to work more closely with their professors have an easier time at Bates since the student to facuty ratio is 10 to 1.
• The student loan default rate at Bates is 2%, which is significantly lower than the national rate of 10.1%. That's great news for students who are worrying about paying off their student loans.
• Although it may not be available for every major, the bachelor's degree is the highest award a student can attain at Bates.
• For the 2019-2020 academic year, 90% of the faculty were full-time.
• After graduation, Bates bachelor's degree recipients go on to jobs where they make $64,706 a year. That's about 59% more than their peers at other schools.
• The average Bates student graduates in 4.0 years. That's better than the national average of 4.4 years.

Bates College Rankings

Bates landed the #19 spot in our 2023 ranking of best colleges. We analyzed 2,018 colleges and universities across the nation to determine this ranking. This puts it in the top 1% of all schools in the nation! Out of the 17 colleges in Maine, it is ranked at #2.

Our rankings are based on an outcomes-based approach rather than subjective ones used by other media outlets. As such, we utilize data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and the College Scorecard, among other sources. Visit our rankings and methodology section to learn more.

Bates has also been awarded the following overall awards by our latest rankings.

Rank	Ranking Name	Share
#19	Best Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It

Program Level Awards

These are highlights of some of the most noteworthy awards granted to specific programs at Bates.

Rank	Ranking Name	Share
#2	Best Child Development & Psychology Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#3	Best Psychology Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#4	Best Biochemistry & Biophysics Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#6	Best Political Science & Government Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#8	Best Neurobiology & Neurosciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#13	Best General Biology Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#13	Best Biological & Biomedical Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#18	Best Anthropology Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#21	Best Social Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#23	Best Sociology Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It

Awards From Around the Web

The following table lists some notable awards Bates has earned from around the web.

Rank	Ranking Name	Source
#37	Best Political Science & Government Schools	College Factual
#37	Best Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology Schools	College Factual
#38	Best Psychology Schools	College Factual
#48	Best Sociology Schools	College Factual
#56	Best Social Sciences Schools	College Factual
#78	Best Biological & Biomedical Sciences Schools	College Factual

Where Is Bates College?

Contact details for Bates are given below.

	Contact Details
Address:	2 Andrews Road, Lewiston, ME 04240
Phone:	207-786-6000
Website:	www.bates.edu/

How Do I Get Into Bates?

You can apply to Bates online at: www.bates.edu/admission/apply/

Admission Requirements for Bates

Submission	Required?
High School GPA	recommended
High School Rank	recommended
High School Transcript	required
College Prep Program	recommended
Recommendations	required
SAT or ACT Scores	neither required nor recommended
TOEFL	required

How Hard Is It To Get Into Bates?

The acceptance rate at Bates is 14%, which means the school is highly selective when deciding who will be admitted and who won't. Even if you have great grades and test scores, that may not be enough. So be sure to look for ways to make your application memorable.

Approximately 45% of accepted students are men and 55% are women. The acceptance rate for men is 14%, and the acceptance rate for women is 14%.

Can I Afford Bates College?

The overall average net price of Bates is $56,146. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group.

The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.

Student Loan Debt

Almost 66% of college students who graduated with the class of 2018 took out student loans, but that percentage varies from school to school. At Bates, approximately 16% of students took out student loans averaging $7,795 a year. That adds up to $31,180 over four years for those students.

The student loan default rate at Bates is 1.5%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you'll be able to pay back your student loans.

Bates College Undergraduate Student Diversity

Gender Diversity

Of the 1,876 full-time undergraduates at Bates, 49% are male and 51% are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

The racial-ethnic breakdown of Bates College students is as follows.

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	92
Black or African American	106
Hispanic or Latino	133
White	1,266
International Students	149
Other Races/Ethnicities	130

Geographic Diversity

Maine students aren't the only ones who study at Bates College. At this time, 38 states are represented by the student population at the school.

Over 59 countries are represented at Bates. The most popular countries sending students to the school are China, India, and Vietnam.

Online Learning at Bates College

Bates College Undergraduate Concentrations

The table below shows the number of awards for each concentration.

Major	Bachelor’s	TOTAL
Child Development & Psychology	73	73
Political Science & Government	65	65
Economics	54	54
History	33	33
General Biology	32	32
Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology	29	29
Natural Resources Conservation	26	26
General English Literature	23	23
Sociology	22	22
Neurobiology & Neurosciences	20	20
Mathematics	19	19
Physics	19	19
Philosophy	16	16
Chemistry	15	15
Writing Studies	14	14
Geological & Earth Sciences	12	12
Ethnic Studies	10	10
Area Studies	9	9
Other Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies	9	9
Anthropology	9	9
Drama & Theater Arts	9	9
Romance Languages	8	8
Fine & Studio Arts	8	8
Classical & Ancient Studies	7	7
Music	7	7
Dance	6	6
East Asian Languages	5	5
General Engineering	2	2
Religious Studies	2	2
Germanic Languages	1	1
Liberal Arts General Studies	0	0
TOTAL	564	564

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• National Center for Education Statistics
• Image Credit: By N.Y. Walton under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.