California State University-Northridge (CSUN) vs UC Merced

California State University-Northridge (CSUN) and University of California-Merced (UC-Merced) are two distinct public universities in California, each offering unique educational experiences. CSUN, located in the vibrant San Fernando Valley, boasts a diverse student body and a wide range of academic programs, while UC-Merced, situated in the heart of the Central Valley, is known for its strong research focus and commitment to undergraduate education. With different acceptance rates, popular majors, student demographics, and graduation rates, these universities cater to different student needs and aspirations. Explore our comprehensive comparison table to discover which institution aligns best with your academic goals and personal preferences.

	California State University-Northridge	University of California-Merced
Overview
Location	Northridge, California	Merced, California
Campus setting	City: Large	Rural: Fringe
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Public	Public
Calendar system	Semester	Semester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate and Graduate	Undergraduate and Graduate
Students retention rate	82.0%	79.0%
Common app member	No	No
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	88.1%	86.6%
Application fees	Undergraduate: $70 Graduate: $70	Undergraduate: $70 Graduate: $120
SAT range	N/A	N/A
ACT range	N/A	N/A
Students submitting SAT score
Students submitting ACT score
Total number of applicants	23,656	27,793
Total number of admissions given out	20,842	24,068
Admitted students who chose to enroll	4,716	2,410
Yield rate	22.6%	10.0%
Test scores (SAT/ACT)	N/A	N/A
High school GPA	Required	Required
Recommendation letters	Not required	Not required
High school transcript	Not required	Not required
English proficiency test (e.g. TOEFL)	Not required	Required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	In state: $31,857 Out of state: $43,737	In state: $28,870 Out of state: $58,624
Average net price	$8,708	$11,586
Tuition	In state: $5,742 Out of state: $17,622	In state: $11,442 Out of state: $41,196
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $7,316 Meal plan: $4,506	$18,901
Available payment plans	Tuition payment plan	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	82.0% Average amount $10,882	92.0% Average amount $21,623
Students receiving federal student loan	14.0% Average amount $4,779	18.0% Average amount $4,470
Students taking out private loans	1.0% Average amount $12,360	1.0% Average amount $2,687

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	34,496 Men 45.0% Women 55.0%	8,321 Men 47.7% Women 52.3%
Graduate students	5,612 Men 33.0% Women 67.0%	772 Men 55.8% Women 44.2%
Racial/ethnic diversity	Moderate	Low
Out-of-state students	1.7%	0.2%
International students	6.0%	8.7%
Campus local/setting	City: Large	Rural: Fringe
Dormitory capacity	4,029	3,634
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	California Washington Hawaii Nevada Texas	California Alaska Idaho Missouri Texas

Academics
Popular study areas	Health Professions Engineering Kinesiology & Leisure Studies Public Administration and Social Service Computer and Information Science	Engineering Physical Science Social Sciences English Language and Literature Psychology
Students to faculty ratio	26:1	19:1
Institutional accreditation	Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior Colleges and University Commission	Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior Colleges and University Commission

Outcome
Graduation rate	54.2%	71.6%
Dropout rate	33.7%	5.0%
Transferred out	5.6%	22.6%
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering (Master's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $95,739 Year 3: $108,158 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $89,831 Year 2: $92,124 Year 3: $98,535 Taxation (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $72,745 Year 2: $86,867 Year 3: $97,852 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $83,455 Year 2: $88,907 Year 3: $96,626 Construction Engineering Technologies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $79,863 Year 2: $75,204 Year 3: $92,559 Engineering-Related Fields (Master's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $80,493 Year 3: $92,252 Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $83,281 Year 2: $83,669 Year 3: $89,964 Computer Science (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $64,782 Year 2: $75,047 Year 3: $84,221 Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $68,859 Year 2: $73,070 Year 3: $82,977 Educational Administration and Supervision (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $78,180 Year 2: $76,863 Year 3: $82,194	Computer Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $54,675 Year 2: $55,286 Year 3: $68,164 Mechanical Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $55,936 Year 2: $51,392 Year 3: $67,761 Economics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $30,771 Year 2: $43,000 Year 3: $57,642 Biomedical/Medical Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $38,420 Year 2: $39,729 Year 3: $53,045 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $41,245 Year 2: $41,937 Year 3: $50,288 Applied Mathematics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $32,755 Year 2: N/A Year 3: $49,047 Environmental/Environmental Health Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $40,917 Year 2: $38,721 Year 3: $47,958 Biology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $29,685 Year 2: $31,391 Year 3: $43,274 Chemistry (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $37,397 Year 2: $29,685 Year 3: $42,368 Cognitive Science (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $27,909 Year 2: $28,960 Year 3: $40,928

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