Drexel University vs Columbia College

Drexel University and Columbia College Chicago, two esteemed institutions of higher learning, offer distinct educational experiences. Drexel, a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, boasts an acceptance rate of 73%, while Columbia College Chicago, a private arts and media college in Chicago, Illinois, has a slightly lower acceptance rate of 68%. Drexel's student body is more diverse, with 44% of undergraduates identifying as non-white compared to Columbia's 34%. Both institutions offer a wide range of undergraduate programs, with popular majors at Drexel including Engineering, Business, and Health Professions, and popular majors at Columbia including Film and Video, Music, and Graphic Design. While Drexel's graduation rate stands at 84%, Columbia's is slightly lower at 78%. To help you make an informed decision about your educational journey, we've compiled a comprehensive comparison table highlighting key differences between these two exceptional institutions.

	Columbia College Chicago	Drexel University
Overview
Location	Chicago, Illinois	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Campus setting	City: Large	City: Large
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Private (Non Profit)	Private (Non Profit)
Calendar system	Semester	Quarter
Degrees offered	Undergraduate and Graduate	Undergraduate and Graduate
Students retention rate	62.0%	90.0%
Common app member	Yes	Yes
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	95.6%	82.6%
Application fees	Undergraduate: $50 Graduate: $60	Undergraduate: $50 Graduate: $65
SAT range	N/A	1210 - 1410
ACT range	N/A	26 - 32
Students submitting SAT score		37.0%
Students submitting ACT score		9.0%
Total number of applicants	7,218	34,519
Total number of admissions given out	6,903	28,522
Admitted students who chose to enroll	1,696	2,854
Yield rate	24.6%	10.0%
Test scores (SAT/ACT)	N/A	N/A
High school GPA	Not required	Required
Recommendation letters	Not required	Required
High school transcript	Not required	Not required
English proficiency test (e.g. TOEFL)	Not required	Required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	$48,698	$77,478
Average net price	$25,262	$26,076
Tuition	$26,610	$54,766
Room & board	$16,456	Room/dormitory: $10,320 Meal plan: $6,168
Available payment plans	Tuition payment plan	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	99.0% Average amount $20,992	100.0% Average amount $33,241
Students receiving federal student loan	94.0% Average amount $6,068	61.0% Average amount $5,326
Students taking out private loans	6.0% Average amount $19,315	11.0% Average amount $25,237

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	6,493 Men 40.0% Women 60.0%	14,413 Men 51.2% Women 48.8%
Graduate students	243 Men 38.7% Women 61.3%	8,803 Men 36.1% Women 63.9%
Racial/ethnic diversity	Moderate	Moderate
Out-of-state students	46.1%	50.5%
International students	4.0%	9.2%
Campus local/setting	City: Large	City: Large
Dormitory capacity	2,158	3,667
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	Illinois Indiana Michigan Minnesota Ohio	Pennsylvania New Jersey New York Maryland California

Academics
Popular study areas	Visual & Performing Arts Communications Technology Communication and Journalism English Language and Literature Business	Health Professions Engineering Business Computer and Information Science Biological and Biomedical Sciences
Students to faculty ratio	14:1	10:1
Institutional accreditation	Higher Learning Commission	Middle States Commission on Higher Education

Outcome
Graduation rate	50.9%	78.2%
Dropout rate	48.5%	21.1%
Transferred out	N/A	N/A
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Arts, Entertainment,and Media Management (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $37,418 Year 2: $38,289 Year 3: $48,304 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $34,500 Year 2: $36,124 Year 3: $46,919 Rhetoric and Composition/Writing Studies (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $32,614 Year 2: $41,789 Year 3: $41,739 Movement and Mind-Body Therapies and Education (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $42,521 Year 2: $41,565 Year 3: $41,719 Marketing (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $36,175 Year 2: $40,355 Year 3: $41,194 Graphic Communications (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $22,857 Year 2: $33,993 Year 3: $40,498 American Sign Language (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $28,692 Year 2: $35,330 Year 3: $38,260 Journalism (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $30,841 Year 2: $30,635 Year 3: $37,241 Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $38,669 Year 2: $31,133 Year 3: $37,111 Design and Applied Arts (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $29,065 Year 2: $29,737 Year 3: $36,271	Health Services/Allied Health/Health Sciences, General (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $106,513 Year 2: $101,964 Year 3: $119,120 Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $103,960 Year 2: $111,501 Year 3: $117,719 Business/Commerce, General (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $95,740 Year 2: $97,737 Year 3: $113,456 Engineering-Related Fields (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $86,372 Year 2: $99,516 Year 3: $111,283 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $101,146 Year 2: $102,258 Year 3: $105,288 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $89,747 Year 2: $82,440 Year 3: $103,890 Computer Science (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $122,646 Year 2: $88,448 Year 3: $103,671 Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $85,245 Year 2: $95,473 Year 3: $99,676 Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $95,985 Year 2: $93,520 Year 3: $96,267 Educational Administration and Supervision (Doctoral Degrees) Year 1: $88,020 Year 2: $92,632 Year 3: $95,367

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