Cuesta vs De Anza

Cuesta College and De Anza College, both esteemed community colleges in California, offer diverse educational opportunities to students seeking higher education. While they share similarities, each institution possesses unique characteristics that cater to different academic aspirations and preferences. Cuesta College, located in San Luis Obispo County, boasts a higher acceptance rate, making it a more accessible option for students. De Anza College, situated in Cupertino, stands out with its extensive course offerings, including popular majors like Computer Science and Engineering. Explore the detailed comparison table below to delve into further distinctions between these two colleges, encompassing acceptance rates, student body demographics, graduation rates, and more, to help you make an informed decision that aligns with your academic goals and personal preferences.

	Cuesta College	De Anza College
Overview
Location	San Luis Obispo, California	Cupertino, California
Campus setting	Suburb: Small	City: Small
College type	2 year	2 year
Control/business model	Public	Public
Calendar system	Semester	Quarter
Degrees offered	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
Students retention rate	66.0%	79.0%
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: $25,602 Out of state: $32,966	In state: $27,743 Out of state: $36,968
Average net price	$14,586	$8,236
Tuition	In state: $1,288 Out of state: $8,652	In state: $1,395 Out of state: $10,620
Room & board
Available payment plans		Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	77.0% Average amount $4,087	73.0% Average amount $4,655
Students receiving federal student loan	2.0% Average amount $6,557	2.0% Average amount $4,905
Students taking out private loans	0.0% Average amount $0	0.0% Average amount $0

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	9,661 Men 47.9% Women 52.1%	16,706 Men 49.3% Women 50.7%
Graduate students	N/A	N/A
Racial/ethnic diversity	Moderate	Moderate
Out-of-state students	4.0%	4.4%
International students	0.2%	5.5%
Campus local/setting	Suburb: Small	City: Small
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 Oregon Connecticut Illinois Kansas	California Florida Hawaii Alaska Arizona

Academics
Popular study areas	Liberal Arts Business Health Professions Education Family and Consumer Sciences	Business Liberal Arts Social Sciences Computer and Information Science Multidisciplinary Studies
Students to faculty ratio	25:1	27:1
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	43.2%	69.2%
Dropout rate	39.6%	21.4%
Transferred out	8.5%	4.2%
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $79,884 Year 3: $85,944 Mental and Social Health Services and Allied Professions (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $64,744 Year 2: $61,516 Year 3: $61,763 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $24,267 Year 3: $44,025 Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $31,966 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A	Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $95,739 Year 3: N/A

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