ARC-Sacramento vs Mt. SAC

American River College and Mt San Antonio College, both esteemed community colleges in California, offer diverse educational opportunities to students. American River College, located in Sacramento, boasts a higher acceptance rate of 100% compared to Mt San Antonio College's 99%. Mt San Antonio College, situated in Walnut, stands out with its larger student body, enrolling over 20,000 students annually, while American River College serves a slightly smaller community of around 15,000 students. While both institutions offer a wide range of programs, American River College is known for its strengths in the liberal arts and sciences, while Mt San Antonio College excels in career-oriented programs such as nursing and automotive technology. Explore the detailed comparison table below to discover more distinctions between these two exceptional colleges and make an informed decision that aligns with your academic aspirations and goals.

	American River College	Mt San Antonio College
Overview
Location	Sacramento, California	Walnut, California
Campus setting	Suburb: Large	Suburb: Large
College type	2 year	2 year
Control/business model	Public	Public
Calendar system	Semester	Semester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
Students retention rate	69.0%	76.0%
Common app member	No	No
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	Open Admission	Open Admission
Application fees
SAT range	N/A	N/A
ACT range	N/A	N/A
Students submitting SAT score
Students submitting ACT score
Total number of applicants
Total number of admissions given out
Admitted students who chose to enroll
Yield rate
Test scores (SAT/ACT)	Not required	Not required
High school GPA	N/A	N/A
Recommendation letters	N/A	N/A
High school transcript	N/A	N/A
English proficiency test (e.g. TOEFL)	N/A	N/A

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	In state: $24,508 Out of state: $33,388	In state: $24,491 Out of state: $33,171
Average net price	$8,101	$5,774
Tuition	In state: $0 Out of state: $8,880	In state: $1,288 Out of state: $9,968
Room & board
Available payment plans

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	89.0% Average amount $4,440	72.0% Average amount $5,868
Students receiving federal student loan	1.0% Average amount $6,131	0.0% Average amount $6,320
Students taking out private loans	0.0% Average amount $0	0.0% Average amount $0

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	25,849 Men 47.0% Women 53.0%	25,540 Men 45.6% Women 54.4%
Graduate students	N/A	N/A
Racial/ethnic diversity	Moderate	Low
Out-of-state students	3.5%	0.5%
International students	0.2%	1.0%
Campus local/setting	Suburb: Large	Suburb: Large
Dormitory capacity	N/A	N/A
First year students are required to live on campus?	N/A	N/A
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	California	California Hawaii Arizona Colorado Georgia

Academics
Popular study areas	Social Sciences Business Multidisciplinary Studies Health Professions Psychology	Business Social Sciences Kinesiology & Leisure Studies Psychology Health Professions
Students to faculty ratio	26:1	21:1
Institutional accreditation	Western Association of Schools and Colleges Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges	Western Association of Schools and Colleges Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges

Outcome
Graduation rate	29.4%	40.9%
Dropout rate	46.7%	30.8%
Transferred out	7.8%	6.7%
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $87,305 Year 2: $92,632 Year 3: $94,784 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $34,120 Year 2: $26,933 Year 3: $44,180 Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities (Undergraduate Certificates or Diplomas) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $24,421 Year 3: $37,991 Social Sciences, General (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $24,748 Year 2: $20,140 Year 3: $31,533 Criminal Justice and Corrections (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: N/A Year 3: $23,662 American Sign Language (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $25,194 Year 3: N/A Legal Support Services (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $37,568 Year 3: N/A Biological and Physical Sciences (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $25,407 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Psychology, General (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $18,315 Year 3: N/A Human Services, General (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $25,194 Year 3: N/A	Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $74,526 Year 2: $70,253 Year 3: $78,803 Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $67,750 Year 2: $65,889 Year 3: $74,834 Mental and Social Health Services and Allied Professions (Undergraduate Certificates or Diplomas) Year 1: $51,752 Year 2: $48,432 Year 3: $60,474 Criminal Justice and Corrections (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $36,141 Year 3: $44,975 Legal Support Services (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $32,925 Year 3: $32,692 Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $32,327 Year 2: N/A Year 3: $32,258 Health and Physical Education/Fitness (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $20,123 Year 2: N/A Year 3: $24,714 Social Sciences, General (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $25,194 Year 3: N/A Business/Commerce, General (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $29,558 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Mental and Social Health Services and Allied Professions (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $42,682 Year 3: N/A

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