Carteret Community College vs Mountain Empire Community College (MECC)

Carteret Community College and Mountain Empire Community College, both esteemed institutions of higher learning, offer unique educational experiences tailored to diverse student aspirations. Carteret, nestled along the North Carolina coast, boasts an acceptance rate of 100%, welcoming students from all backgrounds to embark on their academic journeys. Mountain Empire, situated amidst the scenic mountains of Virginia, maintains a slightly more selective admissions process, with an acceptance rate of 98%. While Carteret's student body predominantly comprises females, Mountain Empire's population leans towards males. Both colleges excel in providing quality education, with Carteret boasting a graduation rate of 28% and Mountain Empire achieving a commendable 32%. Explore the comprehensive comparison table below to delve into further details about these institutions, including popular majors, tuition fees, and additional factors that may influence your decision in choosing the ideal college for your educational pursuits.

	Carteret Community College	Mountain Empire Community College
Overview
Location	Morehead City, North Carolina	Big Stone Gap, Virginia
Campus setting	Town: Distant	Town: Distant
College type	2 year	2 year
Control/business model	Public	Public
Calendar system	Semester	Semester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
Students retention rate	56.0%	68.0%
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: $25,353 Out of state: $31,497	In state: $14,385 Out of state: $20,388
Average net price	$17,083	$8,803
Tuition	In state: $2,432 Out of state: $8,576	In state: $4,620 Out of state: $9,918
Room & board
Available payment plans	Tuition payment plan	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	60.0% Average amount $7,866	98.0% Average amount $5,590
Students receiving federal student loan		0.0% Average amount $0
Students taking out private loans		1.0% Average amount $3,006

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	1,535 Men 32.4% Women 67.6%	2,079 Men 37.3% Women 62.7%
Graduate students	N/A	N/A
Racial/ethnic diversity	Low	Very Low
Out-of-state students	0.7%	1.0%
International students	0.8%	0.1%
Campus local/setting	Town: Distant	Town: Distant
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	North Carolina Alaska Illinois	Virginia Tennessee

Academics
Popular study areas	Health Professions Liberal Arts Culinary and Personal Services Business Law Enforcement and Firefighting	Health Professions Liberal Arts Engineering Technologies Law Enforcement and Firefighting Construction Trades
Students to faculty ratio	11:1	19:1
Institutional accreditation	Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges	Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges

Outcome
Graduation rate	43.3%	44.1%
Dropout rate	28.3%	45.6%
Transferred out	20.0%	3.7%
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $43,495 Year 2: $45,500 Year 3: $49,409 Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $20,821 Year 2: $18,498 Year 3: $26,162 Cosmetology and Related Personal Grooming Services (Undergraduate Certificates or Diplomas) Year 1: $9,747 Year 2: $13,702 Year 3: N/A Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $53,033 Year 2: $50,856 Year 3: N/A	Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $49,999 Year 2: $50,161 Year 3: $52,521 Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $39,541 Year 2: $36,166 Year 3: $41,849 Practical Nursing, Vocational Nursing and Nursing Assistants (Undergraduate Certificates or Diplomas) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $30,771 Year 3: $30,684 Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $15,964 Year 3: $21,826 Mental and Social Health Services and Allied Professions (Undergraduate Certificates or Diplomas) Year 1: $18,788 Year 2: $19,508 Year 3: $21,200 Industrial Production Technologies/Technicians (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $31,719 Year 2: $35,600 Year 3: N/A Criminal Justice and Corrections (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $30,449 Year 2: $20,140 Year 3: N/A Business Operations Support and Assistant Services (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $24,047 Year 2: $20,824 Year 3: N/A

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