Haverford College is a private liberal arts college located in the suburbs of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. The following is a detailed introduction:

School Overview

Long history: Founded in 1833 by the Friends of the Philadelphia Orthodox Religious Society, it is one of the earliest liberal arts colleges in the United States and the earliest school with "Quaker" ancestry in North America.

Campus size: The campus covers an area of ​​200 acres, with a beautiful environment and many advanced facilities on campus, such as music facilities and sports facilities.

Student size: The number of students is relatively small, with about 1,268 undergraduate students, and 98% of the students live on campus, creating a close campus community atmosphere.

Academic strength

Major settings: 56 academic programs are offered, covering bioengineering, English literature, history, political science, philosophy, etc. Its biophysics, economics, English, history, political science and other departments are strong, and there are nine research fields affiliated with specific majors.

Teaching mode: The course setting focuses on cultivating students' critical thinking, writing and speaking, comparative thinking and other abilities, and adopts small class teaching. 96% of the courses have less than 40 students. Students can freely explore their interests before their junior year, and then determine their majors in their junior year. They can also choose their majors, minor majors, and interdisciplinary research studies.

Academic ranking: Ranked 24th in the 2025 USNEWS liberal arts college list, 14th in liberal arts colleges and 60th in comprehensive in the NICHE system.

Famous alumni: It has cultivated many outstanding talents, such as Joseph H. Taylor Jr, the winner of the 1993 Nobel Prize in Physics, and George P. Smith, the winner of the 2018 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Campus life

Examination system: Based on the principles of trust and integrity, students are allowed to choose the time and place of the exam.

Freedom of course selection: Students can freely choose courses at Bryn Mawr College and Swarthmore College, and can also participate in the accelerated master's program in engineering at the University of Pennsylvania.

Club activities: The club activities are rich and diverse, including concerts, performances, lectures, author activities, movie premieres, etc., and there is also the only cricket team in the United States.

Honor Code: The school has Honor Code. Code, professors have high trust in students, students can arrange their own exams, etc. At the same time, the school has requirements for students' behavior, and a good atmosphere of mutual respect and trust has been formed on campus.

Admissions

Admission preferences: more attention is paid to the soft power of applicants, such as resumes and application documents, etc., and applicants from first-tier cities in China are especially welcome.

Admissions policy: A need-blind admissions policy is adopted for US citizens and permanent residents, but the ratio of international students is low, and the application difficulty for international students is relatively high.