Whitman compares itself to the Panel of 14 in order to make major decisions. So how do we measure up?

All 14 were ranked among the top 100 by US News and World Report for this school year. However, even with the US News rankings, the rankings of the Panel of 14 are spread out, varying from Swarthmore College at 3 to Knox at 75. Whitman, ranked 38th, is in the middle of the US News and World Report Rankings.

While they all have a relatively small student population, the student body size ranges from Wabash College with 872 students to Oberlin College with 2,948 students — over three times the size. Whitman weighs in with a student body of 1,555.

The selectivity of each school also widely ranges from Pomona College at 15 percent admitted applicants to Knox at 75 percent admitted. Whitman is again in the middle with 47 percent admitted.

The gender demographics of Panel of 14 schools follow Whitman’s trend of a higher proportion of women with the exception of Wabash College — a men’s college — and Swarthmore, which has an equal percentage of men and women.

Some of the Panel of 14 colleges, such as Reed, Occidental and Colorado, offer master’s degrees along with bachelor’s degrees and Oberlin College offers diplomas, bachelor’s and master’s degrees.

In terms of bachelors degrees offered, Whitman College is at the lower end of the spectrum with 31. In comparison, Pomona, which is roughly the same size as Whitman, offers 47 majors.  Usually, when there are fewer students at a college, there are fewer majors offered at that college: Wabash has the fewest offered majors with 22, while Oberlin has the most to offer with 53.

Geographically, the colleges are from all over the United States.