Columbia vs University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC)

Columbia University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, two prestigious institutions of higher learning, offer distinct educational experiences. Columbia, located in the heart of New York City, boasts a lower acceptance rate, a more diverse student body, and a higher graduation rate. UNC-Chapel Hill, situated in the vibrant college town of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, offers a wider range of undergraduate majors, a larger student body, and a lower cost of attendance. Explore our comprehensive comparison table to delve into specific details and discover which university aligns best with your academic aspirations and personal preferences.

	Columbia University	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Overview
Location	New York, New York	Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Campus setting	City: Large	City: Small
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Private (Non Profit)	Public
Calendar system	Semester	Semester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate and Graduate	Undergraduate and Graduate
Students retention rate	99.0%	97.0%
Common app member	Yes	Yes
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	4.1%	20.4%
Application fees	Undergraduate: $85 Graduate: $120	Undergraduate: $85 Graduate: $95
SAT range	1470 - 1570	1140 - 1380
ACT range	34 - 35	22 - 27
Students submitting SAT score	43.0%	2.0%
Students submitting ACT score	28.0%	12.0%
Total number of applicants	61,110	50,729
Total number of admissions given out	2,524	10,348
Admitted students who chose to enroll	1,641	4,690
Yield rate	65.0%	45.3%
Test scores (SAT/ACT)	N/A	N/A
High school GPA	Not required	Required
Recommendation letters	Required	Required
High school transcript	Not required	Not required
English proficiency test (e.g. TOEFL)	Not required	Required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	$90,882	In state: $24,770 Out of state: $52,633
Average net price	$12,411	$11,508
Tuition	$60,514	In state: $7,019 Out of state: $34,882
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $9,450 Meal plan: $6,000	Room/dormitory: $6,878 Meal plan: $5,004
Available payment plans	Prepaid tuition plan Tuition payment plan	Guaranteed tuition plan Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	53.0% Average amount $57,726	42.0% Average amount $16,076
Students receiving federal student loan	7.0% Average amount $5,511	17.0% Average amount $4,244
Students taking out private loans	2.0% Average amount $34,119	3.0% Average amount $14,032

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	8,832 Men 50.6% Women 49.4%	19,845 Men 39.6% Women 60.4%
Graduate students	24,944 Men 44.8% Women 55.2%	11,796 Men 41.4% Women 58.6%
Racial/ethnic diversity	Moderate	Low
Out-of-state students	N/A	16.2%
International students	37.0%	6.8%
Campus local/setting	City: Large	City: Small
Dormitory capacity	13,071	9,984
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	N/A	North Carolina Georgia Maryland New York Pennsylvania

Academics
Popular study areas	Business Health Professions Engineering Computer and Information Science Public Administration and Social Service	Health Professions Business Social Sciences Public Administration and Social Service Multidisciplinary Studies
Students to faculty ratio	6:1	15:1
Institutional accreditation	Middle States Commission on Higher Education	Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges

Outcome
Graduation rate	97.4%	90.5%
Dropout rate	1.7%	3.7%
Transferred out	0.7%	5.4%
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Law (First Professional Degrees) Year 1: $193,362 Year 2: $180,752 Year 3: $230,020 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $162,427 Year 2: $170,426 Year 3: $179,305 Management Information Systems and Services (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $153,730 Year 2: $160,605 Year 3: $167,216 Computer Science (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $133,851 Year 2: $143,033 Year 3: $166,695 Operations Research (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $111,312 Year 2: $114,503 Year 3: $148,040 Computer Science (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $108,903 Year 2: $103,078 Year 3: $135,658 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Doctoral Degrees) Year 1: $115,222 Year 2: $127,993 Year 3: $131,926 Construction Management (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $98,322 Year 2: $110,878 Year 3: $125,926 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $111,569 Year 2: $109,659 Year 3: $119,899 Computer and Information Sciences, General (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $92,223 Year 2: $100,127 Year 3: $118,332	Advanced/Graduate Dentistry and Oral Sciences (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $168,979 Year 2: N/A Year 3: $238,213 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $135,965 Year 2: $127,836 Year 3: $150,089 Dentistry (First Professional Degrees) Year 1: $116,248 Year 2: $82,440 Year 3: $128,102 Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Administration (First Professional Degrees) Year 1: $67,961 Year 2: $103,078 Year 3: $117,488 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $89,271 Year 2: $86,036 Year 3: $96,602 Computer Science (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $74,162 Year 2: $72,083 Year 3: $95,204 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $74,938 Year 2: $73,823 Year 3: $89,917 Law (First Professional Degrees) Year 1: $71,557 Year 2: $57,770 Year 3: $87,057 Applied Mathematics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $64,899 Year 2: $67,660 Year 3: $86,155 Health and Medical Administrative Services (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $68,205 Year 2: $68,666 Year 3: $82,520

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.

Columbia vs University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC)

Columbia University

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Overview

Admission

Tuition and Fees

Financial Aid

Students and Campus

Academics

Outcome

Compare Similar Colleges

Find Colleges By State

Resources

About