Colorado Mesa vs NSU-Aberdeen

Colorado Mesa University and Northern State University, both located in picturesque regions of the United States, offer distinct educational experiences. Colorado Mesa University, nestled in the heart of Grand Junction, Colorado, boasts an acceptance rate of 88%, while Northern State University, situated in Aberdeen, South Dakota, maintains a slightly lower acceptance rate of 80%. With Colorado Mesa University's diverse student body comprising 44% male and 56% female students, and Northern State University's more balanced gender distribution of 48% male and 52% female students, both universities foster inclusive learning environments. While Colorado Mesa University excels in fields like Business, Management, Marketing, and Related Support Services, Northern State University shines in Education, Health Professions and Related Programs, and Public Administration and Social Services. Explore the comprehensive comparison table below to discover more about these institutions' graduation rates, tuition fees, and other crucial factors that will help you make an informed decision about your academic journey.

	Colorado Mesa University	Northern State University
Overview
Location	Grand Junction, Colorado	Aberdeen, South Dakota
Campus setting	City: Small	Town: Remote
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	72.0%	68.0%
Common app member	Yes	No
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	80.2%	79.8%
Application fees	Undergraduate: $30 Graduate: $50	Undergraduate: $20 Graduate: $35
SAT range	948 - 1200	1020 - 1190
ACT range	19 - 26	18 - 24
Students submitting SAT score	45.0%	5.0%
Students submitting ACT score	13.0%	80.0%
Total number of applicants	8,082	1,229
Total number of admissions given out	6,485	981
Admitted students who chose to enroll	1,855	337
Yield rate	28.6%	34.4%
Test scores (SAT/ACT)	N/A	N/A
High school GPA	Required	Required
Recommendation letters	Not required	Not required
High school transcript	Not required	Required
English proficiency test (e.g. TOEFL)	Required	Required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	In state: $22,148 Out of state: $35,470	In state: $23,495 Out of state: $26,597
Average net price	$15,324	$16,821
Tuition	In state: $8,020 Out of state: $21,342	In state: $7,616 Out of state: $10,718
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $6,100 Meal plan: $5,165	Room/dormitory: $4,800 Meal plan: $4,350
Available payment plans	Tuition payment plan	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	81.0% Average amount $7,228	89.0% Average amount $5,662
Students receiving federal student loan	42.0% Average amount $4,950	65.0% Average amount $4,850
Students taking out private loans	4.0% Average amount $12,590	10.0% Average amount $9,043

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	8,712 Men 45.9% Women 54.1%	2,867 Men 40.6% Women 59.4%
Graduate students	195 Men 34.9% Women 65.1%	473 Men 26.6% Women 73.4%
Racial/ethnic diversity	Low	Very Low
Out-of-state students	16.8%	38.9%
International students	1.1%	2.1%
Campus local/setting	City: Small	Town: Remote
Dormitory capacity	2,661	853
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	Colorado California Texas Washington Utah	South Dakota Minnesota North Dakota Iowa Wisconsin

Academics
Popular study areas	Health Professions Business Kinesiology & Leisure Studies Law Enforcement and Firefighting Liberal Arts	Education Biological and Biomedical Sciences Kinesiology & Leisure Studies Business Liberal Arts
Students to faculty ratio	18:1	16:1
Institutional accreditation	Higher Learning Commission	Higher Learning Commission

Outcome
Graduation rate	38.1%	47.6%
Dropout rate	31.0%	25.4%
Transferred out	27.0%	22.9%
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Construction Engineering Technologies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $59,879 Year 2: $63,997 Year 3: $67,005 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $57,281 Year 2: $59,485 Year 3: $64,998 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $59,101 Year 2: $60,746 Year 3: $63,677 Computer and Information Sciences, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $51,946 Year 2: $47,260 Year 3: $59,293 Criminal Justice and Corrections (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $58,673 Year 3: $58,361 Electrical and Power Transmission Installers (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $43,240 Year 3: $57,344 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $37,940 Year 2: $42,682 Year 3: $52,944 Accounting and Related Services (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $48,215 Year 2: $46,087 Year 3: $52,774 Practical Nursing, Vocational Nursing and Nursing Assistants (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $39,153 Year 3: $48,680 Business/Commerce, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $38,157 Year 2: $39,504 Year 3: $46,603	Biology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $38,289 Year 3: $49,248 Student Counseling and Personnel Services (Master's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $44,021 Year 3: $46,732 Accounting and Related Services (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $45,902 Year 2: $42,682 Year 3: $46,239 Curriculum and Instruction (Master's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $43,575 Year 3: $45,796 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $38,996 Year 2: $40,728 Year 3: $45,442 Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $39,033 Year 2: $39,523 Year 3: $39,953 Health and Physical Education/Fitness (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $32,526 Year 2: $35,060 Year 3: $39,845 Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $39,862 Year 2: $38,289 Year 3: N/A English Language and Literature, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $20,824 Year 3: N/A Health and Physical Education/Fitness (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $38,740 Year 2: $34,526 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.

Colorado Mesa

University of Alaska Anchorage