CWU-Ellensburg vs California State University-Northridge (CSUN)

Central Washington University (CWU) and California State University-Northridge (CSUN) are two distinct universities with unique offerings. CWU, located in Ellensburg, Washington, boasts a smaller student body and a higher acceptance rate compared to CSUN, situated in the vibrant city of Northridge, California. While both universities offer a diverse range of undergraduate and graduate programs, CWU excels in fields like education, business, and nursing, while CSUN shines in areas such as engineering, computer science, and the arts. Explore the detailed comparison table to discover more about the differences in acceptance rates, popular majors, student demographics, graduation rates, and other key factors that can help you make an informed decision about your higher education journey.

	California State University-Northridge	Central Washington University
Overview
Location	Northridge, California	Ellensburg, Washington
Campus setting	City: Large	Town: Distant
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Public	Public
Calendar system	Semester	Quarter
Degrees offered	Undergraduate and Graduate	Undergraduate and Graduate
Students retention rate	82.0%	69.0%
Common app member	No	Yes
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	88.1%	88.4%
Application fees	Undergraduate: $70 Graduate: $70	Undergraduate: $60 Graduate: $75
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	10,767
Total number of admissions given out	20,842	9,523
Admitted students who chose to enroll	4,716	1,371
Yield rate	22.6%	14.4%
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	Not required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	In state: $31,857 Out of state: $43,737	In state: $22,248 Out of state: $38,776
Average net price	$8,708	$17,645
Tuition	In state: $5,742 Out of state: $17,622	In state: $6,656 Out of state: $23,184
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $7,316 Meal plan: $4,506	Room/dormitory: $7,645 Meal plan: $7,957
Available payment plans	Tuition payment plan	Prepaid tuition plan Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	82.0% Average amount $10,882	80.0% Average amount $7,378
Students receiving federal student loan	14.0% Average amount $4,779	41.0% Average amount $4,834
Students taking out private loans	1.0% Average amount $12,360	2.0% Average amount $14,197

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	34,496 Men 45.0% Women 55.0%	9,566 Men 47.0% Women 53.0%
Graduate students	5,612 Men 33.0% Women 67.0%	610 Men 37.4% Women 62.6%
Racial/ethnic diversity	Moderate	Moderate
Out-of-state students	1.7%	6.7%
International students	6.0%	2.7%
Campus local/setting	City: Large	Town: Distant
Dormitory capacity	4,029	3,755
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	Washington California Oregon Hawaii Arkansas

Academics
Popular study areas	Health Professions Engineering Kinesiology & Leisure Studies Public Administration and Social Service Computer and Information Science	Education Business Social Sciences Health Professions Visual & Performing Arts
Students to faculty ratio	26:1	15:1
Institutional accreditation	Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior Colleges and University Commission	Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities

Outcome
Graduation rate	54.2%	53.6%
Dropout rate	33.7%	44.0%
Transferred out	5.6%	N/A
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	Electrical Engineering Technologies/Technicians (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $72,482 Year 3: $86,230 Construction Management (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $73,538 Year 2: $71,168 Year 3: $82,194 Quality Control and Safety Technologies/Technicians (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $68,024 Year 2: $65,486 Year 3: $79,944 Educational Administration and Supervision (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $58,531 Year 2: $61,020 Year 3: $77,665 Computer Science (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $63,052 Year 2: $52,941 Year 3: $69,645 Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $59,580 Year 2: $56,979 Year 3: $69,564 Accounting and Related Services (Master's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $55,151 Year 3: $62,577 Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $44,170 Year 3: $61,531 Economics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $38,008 Year 2: $39,369 Year 3: $58,391 Health and Physical Education/Fitness (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $47,842 Year 2: $50,606 Year 3: $58,240

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