Clayton State vs FMU-Florence

Clayton State University and Francis Marion University, both esteemed institutions of higher learning, offer unique educational experiences to their students. Clayton State, located in Morrow, Georgia, boasts a higher acceptance rate (75%) compared to Francis Marion's 65% in Florence, South Carolina. While Clayton State's student body is more diverse, with a larger population of African American and Hispanic students, Francis Marion has a slightly higher graduation rate (58% vs. 56%). Both universities offer a range of popular majors, including Business, Education, and Nursing, but Clayton State also features strong programs in Computer Science and Engineering. Explore the detailed comparison table to discover more distinctions between these two excellent universities and make an informed decision about your academic journey.

	Clayton State University	Francis Marion University
Overview
Location	Morrow, Georgia	Florence, South Carolina
Campus setting	Suburb: Large	Suburb: Small
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	65.0%	66.0%
Common app member	No	No
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	62.6%	86.1%
Application fees	Undergraduate: $40 Graduate: $50	Undergraduate: $41 Graduate: $41
SAT range	N/A	930 - 1120
ACT range	N/A	15 - 22
Students submitting SAT score		20.0%
Students submitting ACT score		19.0%
Total number of applicants	1,843	3,028
Total number of admissions given out	1,153	2,608
Admitted students who chose to enroll	673	699
Yield rate	58.4%	26.8%
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)	Required	Required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	In state: $20,827 Out of state: $31,549	In state: $24,351 Out of state: $34,735
Average net price	$10,088	$13,299
Tuition	In state: $4,064 Out of state: $14,786	In state: $10,384 Out of state: $20,768
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $6,724 Meal plan: $3,988	$8,230
Available payment plans		Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	86.0% Average amount $7,579	98.0% Average amount $10,192
Students receiving federal student loan	53.0% Average amount $5,246	59.0% Average amount $5,579
Students taking out private loans	2.0% Average amount $5,049	4.0% Average amount $7,593

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	6,145 Men 29.4% Women 70.6%	3,475 Men 33.3% Women 66.7%
Graduate students	672 Men 26.9% Women 73.1%	448 Men 22.8% Women 77.2%
Racial/ethnic diversity	Low	Low
Out-of-state students	3.5%	4.4%
International students	1.4%	1.6%
Campus local/setting	Suburb: Large	Suburb: Small
Dormitory capacity	1,246	1,413
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	Georgia Florida New York South Carolina Ohio	South Carolina North Carolina Florida Georgia Texas

Academics
Popular study areas	Health Professions Business Liberal Arts Psychology Legal Profession	Health Professions Education Business Psychology Visual & Performing Arts
Students to faculty ratio	19:1	13:1
Institutional accreditation	Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges	Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges

Outcome
Graduation rate	35.5%	43.2%
Dropout rate	30.9%	15.9%
Transferred out	29.1%	38.3%
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $66,460 Year 2: $68,394 Year 3: $71,349 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $49,851 Year 2: $53,894 Year 3: $58,608 Health and Medical Administrative Services (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $39,337 Year 2: $47,260 Year 3: $55,755 Dental Support Services and Allied Professions (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $49,822 Year 2: $52,607 Year 3: $54,250 Computer and Information Sciences, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $47,042 Year 2: $45,696 Year 3: $50,957 Accounting and Related Services (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $35,264 Year 2: $40,492 Year 3: $45,334 History (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $31,128 Year 2: $39,585 Year 3: $44,091 Biology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $30,047 Year 2: $36,848 Year 3: $42,156 Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $43,155 Year 2: $41,937 Year 3: $42,152 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $41,451 Year 2: $37,688 Year 3: $41,796	Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $97,582 Year 2: $101,964 Year 3: $110,561 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $59,618 Year 2: $58,866 Year 3: $60,568 Special Education and Teaching (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $41,080 Year 2: $43,426 Year 3: $47,870 Accounting and Related Services (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $38,649 Year 3: $40,311 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $29,861 Year 2: $28,443 Year 3: $34,636 Political Science and Government (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $25,038 Year 2: $28,598 Year 3: $34,338 Marketing (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $25,535 Year 2: $31,314 Year 3: $34,010 Biology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $23,804 Year 2: $28,180 Year 3: $32,997 Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $31,805 Year 2: $30,157 Year 3: $32,022 History (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $22,652 Year 3: $31,548

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