Davidson College vs Ave Maria

Davidson College and Ave Maria University, two distinct institutions of higher learning, offer unique educational experiences to their students. Davidson, a highly selective liberal arts college in North Carolina, boasts an acceptance rate of 22% and is renowned for its strong academic programs, particularly in the social sciences and humanities. Ave Maria, a private Catholic university in Florida, has a more open admissions policy with an acceptance rate of 80% and is known for its focus on Catholic intellectual tradition and its commitment to the liberal arts. While both institutions offer a variety of undergraduate programs, Davidson's most popular majors include Economics, English, and Political Science, while Ave Maria's popular choices include Business Administration, Elementary Education, and Theology. Explore the detailed comparison table below to discover more about the differences in student body demographics, graduation rates, and other key factors that may influence your college decision.

	Ave Maria University	Davidson College
Overview
Location	Ave Maria, Florida	Davidson, North Carolina
Campus setting	Rural: Distant	Suburb: Large
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Private (Non Profit)	Private (Non Profit)
Calendar system	Semester	Semester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate and Graduate	Undergraduate
Students retention rate	76.0%	95.0%
Common app member	Yes	Yes
Religious affiliation	Catholic	Presbyterian

Admission
Acceptance rate	64.0%	17.8%
Application fees		$50
SAT range	N/A	N/A
ACT range	N/A	N/A
Students submitting SAT score
Students submitting ACT score
Total number of applicants	3,705	6,434
Total number of admissions given out	2,373	1,145
Admitted students who chose to enroll	377	547
Yield rate	15.9%	47.8%
Test scores (SAT/ACT)	N/A	N/A
High school GPA	Required	Required
Recommendation letters	Not required	Required
High school transcript	Not required	Not required
English proficiency test (e.g. TOEFL)	Required	Required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	$41,977	$73,200
Average net price	$18,643	$25,794
Tuition	$23,521	$54,460
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $7,562 Meal plan: $5,528	Room/dormitory: $7,700 Meal plan: $7,525
Available payment plans	Prepaid tuition plan Tuition payment plan	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	100.0% Average amount $21,230	64.0% Average amount $47,889
Students receiving federal student loan	55.0% Average amount $5,696	10.0% Average amount $5,095
Students taking out private loans	9.0% Average amount $11,852	2.0% Average amount $33,219

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	1,259 Men 45.1% Women 54.9%	1,973 Men 47.2% Women 52.8%
Graduate students	43 Men 69.8% Women 30.2%	N/A
Racial/ethnic diversity	Low	Low
Out-of-state students	N/A	76.8%
International students	1.3%	8.2%
Campus local/setting	Rural: Distant	Suburb: Large
Dormitory capacity	1,244	1,830
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	Yes
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	N/A	North Carolina Virginia Texas New Jersey Florida

Academics
Popular study areas	Health Professions Business Theology Social Sciences Education	Psychology Physical Science Social Sciences Foreign Languages and Literatures Ethnic Studies
Students to faculty ratio	18:1	10:1
Institutional accreditation	Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges	Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges

Outcome
Graduation rate	60.9%	89.6%
Dropout rate	39.1%	10.0%
Transferred out	N/A	N/A
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Business Administration, Management and Operations (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $32,648 Year 2: $33,993 Year 3: $36,766 Biology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $29,250 Year 3: $34,401 Psychology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $26,800 Year 2: $30,988 Year 3: $30,767 Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $31,762 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Theological and Ministerial Studies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $31,775 Year 2: $28,598 Year 3: N/A Economics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $48,041 Year 3: N/A	Economics (Undergraduate Certificates or Diplomas) Year 1: $60,797 Year 2: $69,338 Year 3: $80,388 Political Science and Government (Undergraduate Certificates or Diplomas) Year 1: $42,752 Year 2: $45,715 Year 3: $53,747 Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics (Undergraduate Certificates or Diplomas) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $43,240 Year 3: N/A English Language and Literature, General (Undergraduate Certificates or Diplomas) Year 1: $41,099 Year 2: $35,330 Year 3: N/A Biology, General (Undergraduate Certificates or Diplomas) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $31,670 Year 3: N/A Psychology, General (Undergraduate Certificates or Diplomas) Year 1: $34,292 Year 2: $28,598 Year 3: N/A Anthropology (Undergraduate Certificates or Diplomas) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $29,685 Year 3: N/A History (Undergraduate Certificates or Diplomas) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $22,075 Year 3: N/A

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