Aquinas College vs College of the Holy Cross

Aquinas College and College of the Holy Cross, both rooted in Catholic tradition, offer distinct educational experiences. Aquinas College, a private liberal arts college in Grand Rapids, Michigan, boasts a higher acceptance rate (85%) compared to College of the Holy Cross's selective admissions (33%). Aquinas College's student body is predominantly female (60%), while College of the Holy Cross maintains a more balanced gender ratio. In terms of popular majors, Aquinas College excels in nursing, business, and education, while College of the Holy Cross is known for its strengths in economics, biology, and psychology. With a slightly higher graduation rate (82% vs. 80%), College of the Holy Cross edges out Aquinas College in this metric. Explore the detailed comparison table below to discover more distinctions between these two esteemed institutions and make an informed decision about your academic journey.

	Aquinas College	College of the Holy Cross
Overview
Location	Grand Rapids, Michigan	Worcester, Massachusetts
Campus setting	City: Midsize	City: Midsize
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Private (Non Profit)	Private (Non Profit)
Calendar system	Semester	Semester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate and Graduate	Undergraduate
Students retention rate	85.0%	96.0%
Common app member	Yes	Yes
Religious affiliation	Catholic	Catholic

Admission
Acceptance rate	89.0%	42.9%
Application fees		$60
SAT range	1000 - 1170	1240 - 1420
ACT range	20 - 25	28 - 32
Students submitting SAT score	45.0%	40.0%
Students submitting ACT score	7.0%	19.0%
Total number of applicants	1,432	6,498
Total number of admissions given out	1,275	2,786
Admitted students who chose to enroll	218	821
Yield rate	17.1%	29.5%
Test scores (SAT/ACT)	N/A	N/A
High school GPA	Required	Not required
Recommendation letters	Required	Required
High school transcript	Not required	Not required
English proficiency test (e.g. TOEFL)	Required	Required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	$46,096	$74,520
Average net price	$19,447	$29,198
Tuition	$35,384	$55,800
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $4,764 Meal plan: $5,500	Room/dormitory: $8,800 Meal plan: $7,280
Available payment plans	Tuition payment plan	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	100.0% Average amount $27,496	63.0% Average amount $33,661
Students receiving federal student loan	55.0% Average amount $5,303	38.0% Average amount $5,151
Students taking out private loans	9.0% Average amount $14,628	13.0% Average amount $2,342

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	1,238 Men 43.1% Women 56.9%	3,029 Men 45.6% Women 54.4%
Graduate students	124 Men 29.8% Women 70.2%	N/A
Racial/ethnic diversity	Very Low	Low
Out-of-state students	11.8%	N/A
International students	4.3%	3.1%
Campus local/setting	City: Midsize	City: Midsize
Dormitory capacity	922	2,619
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	Michigan Illinois Indiana Ohio Texas	N/A

Academics
Popular study areas	Business Education Liberal Arts Health Professions Visual & Performing Arts	Biological and Biomedical Sciences Physical Science Social Sciences Foreign Languages and Literatures Visual & Performing Arts
Students to faculty ratio	10:1	10:1
Institutional accreditation	Higher Learning Commission	New England Commission on Higher Education

Outcome
Graduation rate	60.3%	92.6%
Dropout rate	8.4%	1.8%
Transferred out	31.2%	4.7%
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Business, Management, Marketing, and Related Support Services, Other (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $65,253 Year 2: $54,869 Year 3: $66,880 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $40,400 Year 2: $40,821 Year 3: $47,279 Health and Physical Education/Fitness (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $28,818 Year 2: $33,993 Year 3: $43,207 Business/Corporate Communications (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $42,669 Year 2: $41,193 Year 3: $42,839 Sustainability Studies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $38,871 Year 3: $41,665 Communication and Media Studies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $29,345 Year 2: $33,281 Year 3: $41,265 Biology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $28,324 Year 2: $28,236 Year 3: $37,288 English Language and Literature, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $26,007 Year 3: $27,047 Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $34,516 Year 2: $33,281 Year 3: N/A Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $30,459 Year 2: $25,596 Year 3: N/A	Economics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $61,612 Year 2: $66,519 Year 3: $81,782 Mathematics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $50,599 Year 2: $52,733 Year 3: $72,640 Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $34,229 Year 2: $42,682 Year 3: $60,341 English Language and Literature, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $31,588 Year 2: $44,590 Year 3: $59,114 Political Science and Government (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $44,436 Year 2: $46,357 Year 3: $58,346 History (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $43,146 Year 2: $42,363 Year 3: $57,920 Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies, Other (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $40,425 Year 2: $42,309 Year 3: $54,005 Biology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $36,352 Year 2: $38,289 Year 3: $50,696 Chemistry (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $41,359 Year 2: $45,175 Year 3: $49,457 Sociology (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $34,474 Year 2: $42,458 Year 3: $47,527

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Aquinas College

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