A few comments. The table is sorted by the # of PhDs produced 2004-2014 who got their degree from the LAC. This gives you a sense of the size of the hard sciences departments at these schools. LACs near the top have large and strong science departments.
However the schools vary considerably in size, from under 1000 to 3000. So also consider the column PhD.per.1000. This is the # of PhDs in the hard sciences per 1000 students enrolled. Looking at this, you see that some small LACs are very strong per capita producers of PhDs though the absolute number is not as large. Haverford in particular jumps out on the per capita production.
The per capita column (PhD.per.1000) also gives you an idea of how science intense the school is. The schools with high numbers in this columns are known for their “intensity”: Harvey Mudd (384), Carleton (218), Swarthmore (187), Haverford (162), Williams (138), and Reed (132). This doesn’t mean “better”, but gives you a sense of the character of hard sciences at the school: the fraction of students are majoring in the hard sciences plus what fraction go on to graduate school.
The %Need column indicates what % need is met. Note however that I did not list if the school is ‘need blind’. Not all the schools that meet 100% of need are ‘need blind’. A few schools jump out as very strong in hard sciences, easier to get into, and meet 99-100% need. Reed OR (48% admin), St Olaf MN (59%), Smith MA (43%, women’s), Mt Holyoke MA (46%, women’s), Trinity U TX (64%), Franklin & Marshall PA (39%), Occidental CA (42%), Augustana SD (68%) and Dickinson PA (44%). There are also of course the well-known,very hard to get into, strong in science LACs that meet 100% need: Williams, Harvey Mudd, Carleton, Swarthmore, Wesleyan, Pomona, Amherst, Bowdoin…
The %Merit column indicates what fraction of students who don’t have ‘need’ (meaning EFC > school cost) get merit aid. The Award column is the average size of merit awards. A few schools jump out as being both strong in the hard sciences and giving substantial merit aid (>10% and >10000 average). Oberlin OH, St Olaf MN, Grinnell IA, Mt Holyoke MA, Macalester MN, College of Wooster OH, Trinity Univ TX, U of Puget Sound WA, Furman SC, Gustavus Adolphus MN, Kalamazo OH, Lawrence U, Augustana SD, and that’s just for those with more than 100 in the PhD.Prod column.
