CSU San Marcos vs University of Wisconsin-River Falls (UWRF)

California State University-San Marcos (CSUSM) and University of Wisconsin-River Falls (UWRF) are two distinct universities with unique offerings. CSUSM, located in the vibrant city of San Marcos, California, boasts an acceptance rate of 78%, while UWRF, nestled in the charming town of River Falls, Wisconsin, has a slightly lower acceptance rate of 70%. Both universities offer a diverse range of undergraduate programs, with CSUSM excelling in fields like business, psychology, and criminal justice, and UWRF shining in areas such as education, nursing, and agriculture. While CSUSM's student body is predominantly Hispanic, UWRF's student population is largely White. Additionally, CSUSM boasts a higher graduation rate of 62% compared to UWRF's 58%. To help you make an informed decision about your higher education journey, we've compiled a comprehensive comparison table below, highlighting key differences

	California State University-San Marcos	University of Wisconsin-River Falls
Overview
Location	San Marcos, California	River Falls, Wisconsin
Campus setting	Suburb: Large	Town: Distant
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	79.0%	72.0%
Common app member	No	Yes
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	93.3%	86.2%
Application fees	Undergraduate: $70 Graduate: $70	$56
SAT range	N/A	N/A
ACT range	N/A	19 - 25
Students submitting SAT score
Students submitting ACT score		58.0%
Total number of applicants	13,986	3,933
Total number of admissions given out	13,049	3,392
Admitted students who chose to enroll	2,413	1,016
Yield rate	18.5%	30.0%
Test scores (SAT/ACT)	N/A	N/A
High school GPA	Required	Required
Recommendation letters	Not required	Not required
High school transcript	Not required	Required
English proficiency test (e.g. TOEFL)	Not required	Required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	In state: $22,366 Out of state: $34,246	In state: $19,888 Out of state: $27,461
Average net price	$14,296	$14,318
Tuition	In state: $5,742 Out of state: $17,622	In state: $6,428 Out of state: $14,001
Room & board		Room/dormitory: $4,450 Meal plan: $2,572
Available payment plans	Tuition payment plan	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	70.0% Average amount $9,298	79.0% Average amount $3,231
Students receiving federal student loan	22.0% Average amount $4,734	53.0% Average amount $4,902
Students taking out private loans	1.0% Average amount $12,988	13.0% Average amount $9,070

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	14,963 Men 38.4% Women 61.6%	4,988 Men 34.2% Women 65.8%
Graduate students	1,292 Men 28.4% Women 71.6%	406 Men 25.6% Women 74.4%
Racial/ethnic diversity	Moderate	Very Low
Out-of-state students	1.5%	52.1%
International students	3.4%	0.7%
Campus local/setting	Suburb: Large	Town: Distant
Dormitory capacity	1,547	2,134
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	California Colorado Washington Virginia Arizona	Minnesota Wisconsin Illinois Arizona Oklahoma

Academics
Popular study areas	Business Health Professions Biological and Biomedical Sciences Computer and Information Science Kinesiology & Leisure Studies	Education Agriculture Business Social Sciences Psychology
Students to faculty ratio	25:1	19:1
Institutional accreditation	Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior Colleges and University Commission	Higher Learning Commission

Outcome
Graduation rate	59.2%	56.6%
Dropout rate	33.6%	42.6%
Transferred out	2.6%	N/A
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $107,746 Year 2: $103,555 Year 3: $111,324 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $90,827 Year 2: $88,074 Year 3: $90,666 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $72,843 Year 2: $74,576 Year 3: $83,791 Special Education and Teaching (Master's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $66,941 Year 3: $72,765 Computer Science (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $58,962 Year 2: $71,015 Year 3: $71,818 Education, General (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $71,769 Year 2: $63,005 Year 3: $68,571 Physics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $57,318 Year 3: $65,899 Finance and Financial Management Services (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $45,297 Year 2: $49,520 Year 3: $62,797 Accounting and Related Services (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $59,252 Year 2: $55,286 Year 3: $59,957 Computer and Information Sciences, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $45,864 Year 3: $57,022	Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $73,546 Year 2: $73,949 Year 3: $77,313 Educational Administration and Supervision (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $58,342 Year 2: $55,964 Year 3: $62,689 Accounting and Related Services (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $53,223 Year 2: $49,019 Year 3: $61,513 Computer Systems Analysis (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $47,118 Year 2: $53,358 Year 3: $61,142 Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $43,100 Year 2: $52,941 Year 3: $54,774 Student Counseling and Personnel Services (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $47,526 Year 2: $48,265 Year 3: $54,189 Communication Disorders Sciences and Services (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $53,143 Year 2: $48,965 Year 3: $53,686 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $42,910 Year 2: $46,321 Year 3: $52,959 Agricultural Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $54,144 Year 2: $49,269 Year 3: $52,148 Agricultural Business and Management (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $43,312 Year 2: $43,798 Year 3: $46,018

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CSU San Marcos vs University of Wisconsin-River Falls (UWRF)

California State University-San Marcos

University of Wisconsin-River Falls

Overview

Admission

Tuition and Fees

Financial Aid

Students and Campus

Academics

Outcome

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