Union College and Amherst College represent two different but equally important visions of American liberal arts education. Major ranking systems often place Amherst at or near the top, usually around #2 among national liberal arts colleges, while Union ranks in the 30s and 40s. However, these ranking differences hide more significant distinctions in mission, structure, and outcomes. A closer, evidence-based evaluation shows that Amherst’s ranking links to wealth and exclusivity. In contrast, Union’s integrated liberal arts and engineering model produces results that are comparable to or even better than those of higher-ranked peers, especially regarding early career outcomes, return on investment, and scientific capacity.

This analysis compares Union and Amherst based on their histories, admissions profiles, financial resources, academic structures, student outcomes, and campus cultures. It demonstrates how Union’s unique identity provides valuable opportunities for students seeking an integrative education.
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Historical Foundation and Academic Distinction
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Both colleges emerged in the early 19th century, but Union’s identity stands out because of its early innovations. Founded in 1795, Union College was the first non-denominational college in the United States. It opened education to students beyond religious boundaries at a time when most schools were linked to specific Christian denominations. It was also the second institution of higher education in New York State, after Columbia. 

Union became the first liberal arts college in America to offer engineering. It established civil engineering as a field of study in 1845. This groundbreaking choice set a national standard for combining technical and humanistic education, an identity that still shapes Union’s academic character nearly two centuries later. 

Amherst College, founded in 1821, built a different kind of reputation. It is a leading institution among the “Little Ivies” and one of the most respected small colleges in the country. Amherst has regularly ranked #1 or #2 in national evaluations of liberal arts colleges. It is known for its academic rigor, strong financial support, and a highly selective admissions process. 

Union’s early influence on American collegiate culture is also significant. It is called the “Mother of Fraternities” because three of the first national fraternities—Kappa Alpha Society (1825), Sigma Phi (1827), and Delta Phi (1827)—were founded there. Furthermore, Union’s campus was designed in 1813 by French architect Joseph Ramée. It is considered the first fully planned college campus in the United States.
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‍Admissions Accessibility and Student Body Composition

‍Amherst today is one of the most selective colleges in the country, with an acceptance rate of around 9 to 10% in recent years. Applicants typically have near-perfect academic profiles, including SAT mid-50% ranges of about 1360 to 1550. Most admitted students rank in the top 10% of their high school class.

Union College has a more accessible admissions process, accepting about 44% of applicants. Union’s middle 50% SAT range is around 1310 to 1480, with ACT scores between 30 and 33. Its admissions criteria focus on potential, leadership, and overall achievement. This approach gives high-performing students who may not fit into the ultra-selective criteria at schools like Amherst a chance for rigorous study.

Union’s early decision acceptance rate is slightly above 50%, benefiting students who consider the college their top choice.

‍Campus size and learning environment

Amherst enrolls around 1,900 students. Union enrolls about 2,050 to 2,100. Both schools have small student-faculty ratios, with Amherst at 7:1 and Union at 10:1. This supports close interaction with professors, seminar-style classes, and personal mentorship.

‍Residential experience

Both colleges offer deeply residential experiences:
• Amherst: ~97% of students live on campus.
• Union: 90% of students live in college housing or college-sponsored residences.

The result is similarly cohesive, community-driven campus environments, though each expresses this differently through traditions and social structures.
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‍Financial Resources and Educational Investment

The most dramatic structural difference between Amherst and Union is financial scale.

‍Endowment and financial strength

• Amherst: Approximately $3.3-3.5 billion, equating to roughly $1.7M per student, placing it among the most richly endowed liberal arts colleges in America.
• Union: Approximately $520–530 million, translating to around $250K per student, a healthy figure but far smaller than Amherst’s.

Financial aid profiles

‍Amherst’s endowment allows:

• Need-blind admissions for all applicants (including international students).
• Loan-free financial aid awards.
• Average need-based aid packages around $60–70K in need-based grant aid, with an average net cost in the high-teens for aided students.
• Average net cost near $18,000 for students receiving aid.

Union offers:

• 100% need-based aid met for admitted students who apply on time.
• Average need-based packages around ~$37K (for high-need students, packages can be $55–63K+).
• Significant merit scholarships, which Amherst does not offer. These often range from $10,000 to over $40,000 annually.

This distinction matters. For low-income students, Amherst is often much more affordable. For middle- and upper-middle-income families who do not qualify for need-based aid at Amherst, Union’s merit scholarships can make it significantly cheaper.

‍Debt at graduation

• Amherst: low average debt (~$25K), with fewer than 20% borrowing.
• Union: higher average debt (~$35K for borrowers), though still manageable by national standards.

Despite its smaller endowment, Union is regularly acknowledged by outside reviewers, including Princeton Review, as a Top 40 private college for ROI. This recognition shows strong career earnings compared to family costs.
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‍Academic Programming and Curricular Innovation -

Amherst’s open curriculum

‍Amherst is famous for its open curriculum, one of the most permissive in the nation:

• No general education requirements.
• Students design their own academic pathways.

Only a first-year seminar is required outside the major.

This freedom extends through the Five College Consortium, enabling students to take courses at Smith, Mount Holyoke, Hampshire, and UMass Amherst. The consortium offers:

Over 6,000 courses.

Interlibrary access to nearly 11 million volumes.

For students seeking maximum flexibility within the liberal arts, Amherst is unmatched.

‍Union’s integrative liberal arts + engineering model
‍Union offers what Amherst cannot: accredited engineering and intensive STEM capacity within a liberal arts environment.

Union provides ABET-accredited degrees in:

• Mechanical Engineering
• Electrical Engineering
• Computer Engineering
• Biomedical Engineering

Additional civil and environmental programs are expanding under a major new engineering initiative, including a $60 million engineering building under construction.

Union also operates on a trimester calendar, which allows:

• More total courses over four years
• Greater ease in combining majors/minors
• Intensive 10-week terms that support high-focus coursework

Beyond curriculum, Union boasts exceptional science and engineering facilities, including the $100 million Integrated Science and Engineering Complex (ISEC), one of the top undergraduate STEM facilities in the country. Princeton Review consistently ranks Union in the top 3 nationally for best science lab facilities, alongside institutions like Caltech and Harvey Mudd.
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‍The Minerva House System

‍Union’s uniquely structured Minerva Houses, seven residential-academic houses introduced in 2004, integrate social life, intellectual programming, and faculty engagement. Every student belongs to a Minerva, and each house receives tens of thousands of dollars annually for programming, cultural events, and academic enrichment. Amherst has theme housing and residential communities, but it lacks a structure comparable to the Minerva system.
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‍Post-Graduation Outcomes: The Strongest Shared Measure

‍When evaluating educational value, the clearest measure is not rankings or endowment size—but what happens after students graduate.

‍Six-month outcomes
• Amherst: ~94% employed, in graduate school, or engaged in service within six months.
• Union: (Approx) ~95% in positive outcomes within six months.

Union’s slightly higher placement rate is impressive given its more accessible admissions profile.

‍Earnings
‍According to federal earnings data (10 years after enrollment):

• Amherst median earnings: roughly high-$70,000s
• Union: roughly high-$80,000s

Federal earnings data from 10 years after entry show that both schools have strong outcomes. Amherst graduates typically earn in the low-$80Ks, while Union graduates usually earn in the mid-$70Ks to low-$80Ks, depending on the dataset. Union’s engineering and applied STEM programs help keep its early-career earnings competitive with those of more selective peers. Other datasets place both institutions in the high-$40Ks to low-$50Ks range six years after entry, with earnings rising sharply by the 10-year mark.
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‍Professional and graduate school success

• Both colleges promote strong medical school outcomes, with acceptance rates significantly higher than national averages. 
• Amherst sends many graduates to PhD programs, law schools, and funded fellowships. 
• Union provides something Amherst does not: the Leadership in Medicine Program. This program offers an accelerated, guaranteed-admission pathway to Albany Medical College. Students can earn a BS, MS or MBA, and an MD in eight years. 

Union’s engineering graduates have gone on to find jobs with firms like SpaceX, Tesla, GE Global Research, Regeneron, and Raytheon. These employers offer high salaries that few purely liberal arts colleges can compete with.
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‍Campus Life, Athletics, and Traditions

‍Social Architecture:
Amherst prohibits Greek life entirely. Its social scene centers on clubs, arts, theme houses, and the intellectual environment.

Union, conversely:
• Maintains Greek life, with roughly one-fourth to one-third participation.
• Balances this with the Minerva House System, ensuring non-Greek students have equally rich social and academic communities.
• Supports over 130 student organizations, comparable to Amherst’s offerings.
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Athletics
‍Both colleges compete in NCAA Division III for most sports.

The major difference:
• Amherst: all D-III, with multiple national championships (e.g., men’s basketball, men’s soccer).
• Union: primarily D-III, but with Division I men’s and women’s ice hockey.

Union’s men’s hockey team won the 2014 NCAA Division I National Championship, a rare and remarkable achievement for a small liberal arts college. Hockey games remain major campus events and vital cultural touchstones.
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‍Conclusion: Distinct Strengths, Different Missions, and Meaningful Trade-offs
‍This comparison reveals a fundamental truth: Amherst and Union serve different educational missions, each with distinctive strengths.
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‍Amherst excels when students seek:
• Maximum curricular freedom
• A pure liberal arts environment
• Minimal debt and generous need-based financial support
• Exceptionally high graduation rates
• A profoundly elite academic peer group

Union excels when students seek:
• Integrated liberal arts and engineering
• Exceptional scientific and laboratory infrastructure
• A balanced social ecosystem (Greek life + Minerva Houses)
• Division I athletics within a liberal arts college
• High early-career earnings and strong ROI
• More accessible admissions pathways
• Merit scholarships that can reduce family costs

While Amherst’s ranking and resources are exceptional, Union provides unique benefits that money alone cannot replicate. For many students, especially those interested in engineering, pre-med pathways with guaranteed admission options, high-ROI majors, or organized residential communities, Union College may offer a more compatible, flexible, and ultimately better undergraduate experience than even the most prestigious liberal arts colleges.
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Sources:‍
• IPEDS (institutional data, enrollment, graduation rates, expenditures)
https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/
• NCES College Navigator (Union & Amherst profiles)
https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/
• Common Data Set (CDS – standardized admissions data)
https://commondataset.org/
• U.S. News & World Report – National Liberal Arts Rankings
https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-liberal-arts-colleges
• College Scorecard (earnings & post-graduate outcomes)
https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/
• Princeton Review – College Rankings & Best Lab Facilities
https://www.princetonreview.com/college-rankings
• Amherst College Financial Aid
https://www.amherst.edu/admission/financial_aid
• Union College Engineering & ABET Programs
https://www.union.edu/engineering
• Union College Minerva House System
https://www.union.edu/minerva