CWU-Ellensburg vs Salem State

Central Washington University (CWU) and Salem State University (SSU) are two distinct institutions of higher learning, each offering unique opportunities and experiences to their students. CWU, located in Ellensburg, Washington, boasts a higher acceptance rate (86%) compared to SSU's 78% in Salem, Massachusetts. CWU's student body is more diverse, with a larger international student population, while SSU has a slightly higher graduation rate (62% vs. 59%). Both universities offer a wide range of undergraduate and graduate programs, with popular majors in education, business, and nursing. Explore the detailed comparison table below to discover more about the differences in tuition, financial aid, student life, and other key factors that can help you make an informed decision about your academic journey.

	Central Washington University	Salem State University
Overview
Location	Ellensburg, Washington	Salem, Massachusetts
Campus setting	Town: Distant	Suburb: Large
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Public	Public
Calendar system	Quarter	Semester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate and Graduate	Undergraduate and Graduate
Students retention rate	69.0%	75.0%
Common app member	Yes	Yes
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	88.4%	90.0%
Application fees	Undergraduate: $60 Graduate: $75	Undergraduate: $50 Graduate: $50
SAT range	N/A	N/A
ACT range	N/A	N/A
Students submitting SAT score
Students submitting ACT score
Total number of applicants	10,767	6,287
Total number of admissions given out	9,523	5,659
Admitted students who chose to enroll	1,371	939
Yield rate	14.4%	16.6%
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: $22,248 Out of state: $38,776	In state: $27,123 Out of state: $33,928
Average net price	$17,645	$18,125
Tuition	In state: $6,656 Out of state: $23,184	In state: $910 Out of state: $7,050
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $7,645 Meal plan: $7,957	$14,590
Available payment plans	Prepaid tuition plan Tuition payment plan	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	80.0% Average amount $7,378	91.0% Average amount $7,673
Students receiving federal student loan	41.0% Average amount $4,834	67.0% Average amount $4,984
Students taking out private loans	2.0% Average amount $14,197	10.0% Average amount $12,948

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	9,566 Men 47.0% Women 53.0%	5,555 Men 34.5% Women 65.5%
Graduate students	610 Men 37.4% Women 62.6%	1,576 Men 21.8% Women 78.2%
Racial/ethnic diversity	Moderate	Low
Out-of-state students	6.7%	N/A
International students	2.7%	2.5%
Campus local/setting	Town: Distant	Suburb: Large
Dormitory capacity	3,755	1,928
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	Washington California Oregon Hawaii Arkansas	New York New Hampshire Connecticut Rhode Island Vermont

Academics
Popular study areas	Education Business Social Sciences Health Professions Visual & Performing Arts	Education Health Professions Business Public Administration and Social Service Biological and Biomedical Sciences
Students to faculty ratio	15:1	13:1
Institutional accreditation	Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities	New England Commission on Higher Education

Outcome
Graduation rate	53.6%	56.8%
Dropout rate	44.0%	40.8%
Transferred out	N/A	N/A
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	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	Computer and Information Sciences, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $50,461 Year 2: $67,660 Year 3: $81,500 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $68,690 Year 2: $69,261 Year 3: $74,129 Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $61,511 Year 2: $63,005 Year 3: $69,206 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $90,183 Year 2: $71,854 Year 3: $64,195 Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $59,356 Year 2: $59,124 Year 3: $61,164 Special Education and Teaching (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $47,191 Year 2: $54,855 Year 3: $59,882 Social Work (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $50,049 Year 2: $50,606 Year 3: $53,563 Clinical, Counseling and Applied Psychology (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $48,859 Year 2: $48,302 Year 3: $52,492 Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $47,960 Year 2: $47,729 Year 3: $51,920 Chemistry (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $43,346 Year 2: $45,696 Year 3: $51,685

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