Concordia College at Moorhead vs Southwest Minnesota State University (SMSU)

Concordia College at Moorhead and Southwest Minnesota State University, both esteemed institutions of higher learning in Minnesota, offer distinct educational experiences. Concordia, a private liberal arts college, boasts a 98% acceptance rate, while Southwest Minnesota State, a public university, has a slightly lower acceptance rate of 88%. Concordia's student body is predominantly female (60%), while Southwest Minnesota State has a more balanced gender ratio (52% female, 48% male). Both institutions offer a diverse range of undergraduate programs, with Concordia excelling in fields like nursing, business, and education, and Southwest Minnesota State excelling in areas such as business, agriculture, and health sciences. With Concordia's higher graduation rate (68%) compared to Southwest Minnesota State's 58%, prospective students can explore the detailed comparison table below to discover which institution better aligns with their academic aspirations and personal preferences.

	Concordia College at Moorhead	Southwest Minnesota State University
Overview
Location	Moorhead, Minnesota	Marshall, Minnesota
Campus setting	Suburb: Midsize	Town: Remote
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	82.0%	63.0%
Common app member	Yes	No
Religious affiliation	Evangelical

Admission
Acceptance rate	72.0%	91.0%
Application fees	$38	Undergraduate: $20 Graduate: $30
SAT range	1080 - 1218	N/A
ACT range	20 - 26	N/A
Students submitting SAT score	2.0%
Students submitting ACT score	39.0%
Total number of applicants	3,778	1,672
Total number of admissions given out	2,720	1,522
Admitted students who chose to enroll	473	421
Yield rate	17.4%	27.7%
Test scores (SAT/ACT)	N/A	N/A
High school GPA	Required	Not 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	$41,216	$22,718
Average net price	$23,890	$14,061
Tuition	$27,500	$8,230
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $4,100 Meal plan: $5,850	Room/dormitory: $5,426 Meal plan: $3,790
Available payment plans	Tuition payment plan	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	100.0% Average amount $32,708	97.0% Average amount $7,101
Students receiving federal student loan	69.0% Average amount $5,428	67.0% Average amount $5,124
Students taking out private loans	21.0% Average amount $13,177	17.0% Average amount $8,087

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	1,883 Men 44.3% Women 55.7%	6,556 Men 38.6% Women 61.4%
Graduate students	36 Men 8.3% Women 91.7%	430 Men 33.3% Women 66.7%
Racial/ethnic diversity	Very Low	Very Low
Out-of-state students	34.2%	N/A
International students	6.3%	2.5%
Campus local/setting	Suburb: Midsize	Town: Remote
Dormitory capacity	1,370	1,034
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	Minnesota North Dakota Arizona Montana South Dakota	N/A

Academics
Popular study areas	Education Health Professions Business Visual & Performing Arts Social Sciences	Education Business Health Professions Kinesiology & Leisure Studies Agriculture
Students to faculty ratio	12:1	16:1
Institutional accreditation	Higher Learning Commission	Higher Learning Commission

Outcome
Graduation rate	74.2%	47.8%
Dropout rate	6.0%	20.7%
Transferred out	19.4%	29.7%
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $61,933 Year 2: $61,941 Year 3: $64,011 Accounting and Related Services (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $52,813 Year 2: $56,641 Year 3: $62,321 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $41,280 Year 2: $47,686 Year 3: $56,671 Social Work (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $44,170 Year 3: $46,924 Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $39,689 Year 2: $41,317 Year 3: $41,876 Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $26,269 Year 2: $36,560 Year 3: $40,532 Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $39,558 Year 2: $39,909 Year 3: $39,978 Communication and Media Studies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $38,632 Year 2: $33,459 Year 3: $38,968 Psychology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $25,606 Year 2: $30,988 Year 3: $38,335 Political Science and Government (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: N/A Year 3: $38,193	Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $63,193 Year 2: $61,020 Year 3: $63,067 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $46,872 Year 2: $55,964 Year 3: $57,477 Education, General (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $49,470 Year 2: $51,482 Year 3: $52,674 Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $52,562 Year 2: $49,729 Year 3: $50,544 Accounting and Related Services (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $36,831 Year 2: $47,729 Year 3: $48,120 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $38,735 Year 2: $39,729 Year 3: $46,976 Finance and Financial Management Services (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $41,644 Year 2: $43,798 Year 3: $46,844 Hospitality Administration/Management (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $35,060 Year 3: $46,566 Psychology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $35,969 Year 2: $34,526 Year 3: $42,447 Criminal Justice and Corrections (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $39,729 Year 3: $42,232

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Concordia College at Moorhead vs Southwest Minnesota State University (SMSU)

Concordia College at Moorhead

Southwest Minnesota State University

Overview

Admission

Tuition and Fees

Financial Aid

Students and Campus

Academics

Outcome

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