Desert College vs East Los Angeles College (ELAC)

College of the Desert and East Los Angeles College, both esteemed community colleges in California, offer diverse educational opportunities to students. College of the Desert, located in Palm Desert, boasts a higher acceptance rate (100%) compared to East Los Angeles College's 99%. While East Los Angeles College enrolls a larger student body, College of the Desert maintains a smaller student-to-faculty ratio, providing a more personalized learning experience. Both institutions offer a wide range of programs, with popular majors including Liberal Arts and Humanities, Business, and Health Professions. However, College of the Desert excels in the field of Engineering, while East Los Angeles College is renowned for its strong Nursing program. To help you make an informed decision, we've compiled a comprehensive comparison table highlighting key differences between these two colleges. Explore the table to discover which institution aligns best with your academic goals and preferences.

	College of the Desert	East Los Angeles College
Overview
Location	Palm Desert, California	Monterey Park, California
Campus setting	City: Small	Suburb: Large
College type	2 year	2 year
Control/business model	Public	Public
Calendar system	Semester	Semester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
Students retention rate	67.0%	66.0%
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: $24,465 Out of state: $32,109	In state: $24,377 Out of state: $32,151
Average net price	$14,179	$12,028
Tuition	In state: $1,288 Out of state: $8,932	In state: $1,196 Out of state: $8,970
Room & board
Available payment plans	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	95.0% Average amount $5,621	80.0% Average amount $6,600
Students receiving federal student loan
Students taking out private loans

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	10,229 Men 41.1% Women 58.9%	29,506 Men 47.1% Women 52.9%
Graduate students	N/A	N/A
Racial/ethnic diversity	Low	Low
Out-of-state students	1.5%	2.1%
International students	0.6%	0.6%
Campus local/setting	City: Small	Suburb: Large
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	California Colorado Arizona Florida Indiana	California

Academics
Popular study areas	Business Liberal Arts Psychology Health Professions Family and Consumer Sciences	Liberal Arts Social Sciences Law Enforcement and Firefighting Business Multidisciplinary Studies
Students to faculty ratio	24:1	29:1
Institutional accreditation	Western Association of Schools and Colleges Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges	Western Association of Schools and Colleges Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges

Outcome
Graduation rate	29.4%	29.9%
Dropout rate	48.9%	45.2%
Transferred out	5.0%	5.9%
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $79,088 Year 2: $73,446 Year 3: $79,174 Criminal Justice and Corrections (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $20,301 Year 2: $37,208 Year 3: $41,242 Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $22,277 Year 2: $21,781 Year 3: $25,003 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $22,771 Year 2: $30,409 Year 3: $23,897 Psychology, General (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $16,835 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Practical Nursing, Vocational Nursing and Nursing Assistants (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $35,428 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A	Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $38,934 Year 2: $60,161 Year 3: $70,691 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $60,575 Year 2: $38,289 Year 3: $49,655 Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities (Undergraduate Certificates or Diplomas) Year 1: $25,942 Year 2: $40,485 Year 3: $32,682 Criminal Justice and Corrections (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $26,151 Year 2: $22,824 Year 3: $28,792 Psychology, General (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $27,439 Year 3: N/A Social Sciences, General (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $24,257 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A

Compare Similar Colleges

The list of suggested college comparisons provided below is generated automatically by our system, utilizing statistics gathered from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and various online sources. If you don't find the colleges you wish to compare, please visit our comparison page. There, you can search for the specific colleges and initiate your comparison.