Degree Programs Offered at Smith College
Smith College appears in our ranking of the 50 Most Amazing University Botanical Gardens and Arboretums in the U.S..
With 44 majors and even more special programs for undergraduate students, Smith College provides programs for all types of students. Some of the majors that students can choose from include:
- Astronomy
- East Asian Languages and Literature
- Environmental Science and Policy
- Psychology
- Theater
- World Literature
Many of the college’s programs allow students to study a specific culture such as Russian, Jewish or Middle East studies. There are also Africana and American Studies majors available for students.
The college also offers nine concentrations for students that they can study in addition to their majors. In the museum concentration, students look at the history of museums and how those facilities relate to certain subjects. The global financial institutions concentration focuses on how American facilities connect to institutions around the world. Those who want to work in museums and similar facilities can study archives through the college and learn how to preserve the items donated by others. There are also concentrations available in book studies, sustainable food, poetry, climate change, translation studies, and community engagement and social change.
More than 100 students enroll in the college’s six graduate programs and one doctoral program each year too. The School of Social Work offers a Master of Social Work and a Doctor of Social Work. Both programs include field training that allows students to work in Massachusetts and other states as well as classroom work. These programs use a block schedule that requires students to take five blocks and alternative between semesters where they take classes and semesters where they do internships. Social work students will take courses such as Human Behavior in the Social Environment, Social Work Practice and Social Welfare Policy and Service.
In the college’s exercise and sport studies program, students have the chance to work with athletic trainers and coaches as well as athletes. It includes two practicums too that help students gain experience working as coaches. The college’s playwriting program gives students the chance to both create work and produce their plays on stage at local theaters. Though Smith admits men into its graduate programs, it designed those programs to offer more opportunities for women. Graduate students can choose from other majors at the college, including biological sciences, teaching, and dance, which is a Master of Fine Arts program.
About Smith College
Smith College is a private college in Northampton, Massachusetts known as a college for women for many years. Founded in 1871 after Sophia Smith donated her estate to fund a new college, it opened four years later. During the 1890s, the college worked closely with landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted to design a botanical garden and arboretum, both of which still stand today. While serving as a college for women, it added the nation’s first engineering program for females and added other programs that students could not study on other campuses. Though Smith still only accepts women into its undergraduate programs, it now admits a small number of men into some of its graduate programs. Forbes and The Wall Street Journal rank Smith as a top American college, while U.S. News and World Report and Washington Monthly rank it as one of the nation’s best liberal arts schools.
Smith College Accreditation Details
The New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) awarded full accreditation to Smith College. This regional accreditation is why students can transfer their college credits to and from Smith and apply for financial aid. Smith takes steps to ensure that it retains this accreditation. Both the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) and the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) awarded accreditation to the college too.
Smith College Application Requirements
Smith College accepts fewer than 38 percent of the undergraduate applications that it receives annually. The college looks for students who have a strong education background, including high grades in courses such as English, math, and science. Students should take at least two history and social science classes, three years of math and science courses and four full years of English classes. There are two early decision deadlines for applications of November 15 and January first and a final deadline of January 15. Undergrads must submit the Common Application or Coalition Application by this deadline along with the college’s writing supplement. Smith asks for a secondary school report, guidance counselor recommendation, two letters of recommendation from teachers and a midyear school report. It encourages students to complete an interview with an admissions counselor and recommends that they submit their standardized test scores too.
Graduate students must apply and pay the Smith College $60 application fee. Most programs ask for official college transcripts, three letters of recommendation, a GRE score, and the student’s resume. The biological science program also requires a goals/objectives statement, a supplement form, and a long paper that shows the student’s research and writing skills. Both the dance and playwriting programs require examples of the student’s work too such as a play that the student wrote or an audition tape that shows the student dancing on stage.
Tuition and Financial Aid
The cost of attending Smith College comes to $74,628 per year. This includes tuition of nearly $54,000 and a room and board charge of more than $18,000 a year. It does not include the cost of traveling to the campus or the living expenses that students have. The college requires that students pay half the amount due at the start of each semester or make arrangements to pay their balances through financial aid. Graduate students pay between $27,000 and $54,000 a year if they do not qualify for any financial aid or other awards.
Smith College offers financial aid packages that can significantly reduce the cost that a student pays out of his or her pocket each year. The only requirement for a student to get financial aid is a completed Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Merit aid is available for students who demonstrate strong merit on their applications. Students can qualify for scholarships of up to $25,000 a year. Tuition scholarships also go to graduate students who can apply for an assistant job with the college. All of the degree programs available at Smith College include other financial aid options such as loans and work-study too.