Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) vs Northern Illinois University (NIU)

Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) and Northern Illinois University (NIU) are two public universities with distinct characteristics. EKU, located in Richmond, Kentucky, has an acceptance rate of 86%, while NIU, situated in DeKalb, Illinois, has an acceptance rate of 79%. Both universities offer a diverse range of undergraduate programs, with popular majors at EKU including Nursing, Business Administration, and Education, and popular majors at NIU including Business, Engineering, and Psychology. EKU's student body is predominantly White (79%), while NIU's student body is more diverse, with a larger proportion of Black (14%) and Hispanic (18%) students. In terms of graduation rates, EKU's four-year graduation rate is 23%, while NIU's four-year graduation rate is 28%. To help you make an informed decision about your higher education journey, we have compiled a comprehensive comparison table that delves

	Eastern Kentucky University	Northern Illinois University
Overview
Location	Richmond, Kentucky	Dekalb, Illinois
Campus setting	Town: Distant	Suburb: Small
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Public	Public
Calendar system	Semester	Semester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate and Graduate	Undergraduate and Graduate
Students retention rate	74.0%	67.0%
Common app member	No	Yes
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	98.3%	70.4%
Application fees		Undergraduate: $40 Graduate: $60
SAT range	950 - 1180	N/A
ACT range	18 - 24	N/A
Students submitting SAT score	4.0%
Students submitting ACT score	88.0%
Total number of applicants	7,251	22,602
Total number of admissions given out	7,131	15,922
Admitted students who chose to enroll	2,493	2,285
Yield rate	35.0%	14.4%
Test scores (SAT/ACT)	N/A	N/A
High school GPA	Required	Required
Recommendation letters	Not required	Not required
High school transcript	Not required	Required
English proficiency test (e.g. TOEFL)	Required	Required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	In state: $23,762 Out of state: $34,034	$27,218
Average net price	$14,271	$13,265
Tuition	In state: $9,452 Out of state: $19,724	$9,606
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $5,416 Meal plan: $3,994	$11,098
Available payment plans	Guaranteed tuition plan Tuition payment plan	Prepaid tuition plan Guaranteed tuition plan Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	98.0% Average amount $9,891	98.0% Average amount $13,008
Students receiving federal student loan	49.0% Average amount $4,950	58.0% Average amount $5,313
Students taking out private loans	5.0% Average amount $10,455	5.0% Average amount $11,726

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	11,684 Men 40.6% Women 59.4%	11,834 Men 47.1% Women 52.9%
Graduate students	2,300 Men 30.0% Women 70.0%	4,400 Men 40.8% Women 59.2%
Racial/ethnic diversity	Very Low	Moderate
Out-of-state students	N/A	N/A
International students	1.1%	4.6%
Campus local/setting	Town: Distant	Suburb: Small
Dormitory capacity	4,479	4,500
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	Ohio Illinois Indiana West Virginia	N/A

Academics
Popular study areas	Health Professions Education Law Enforcement and Firefighting Liberal Arts Engineering Technologies	Education Health Professions Business Engineering Computer and Information Science
Students to faculty ratio	15:1	15:1
Institutional accreditation	Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges	Higher Learning Commission

Outcome
Graduation rate	47.8%	50.8%
Dropout rate	48.5%	46.9%
Transferred out	1.6%	N/A
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Graduate/Professional Certificates) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $110,878 Year 3: $113,532 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $94,123 Year 2: $90,291 Year 3: $95,519 Quality Control and Safety Technologies/Technicians (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $67,935 Year 2: $69,338 Year 3: $78,046 Homeland Security, Law Enforcement, Firefighting and Related Protective Services, Other (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $73,209 Year 2: $74,105 Year 3: $74,692 Construction Management (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $59,585 Year 2: $57,318 Year 3: $71,030 Educational Administration and Supervision (First Professional Degrees) Year 1: $54,959 Year 2: $60,523 Year 3: $62,961 Computer and Information Sciences, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $50,605 Year 2: $49,019 Year 3: $62,600 Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $56,959 Year 2: $60,523 Year 3: $61,708 Fire Protection (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $48,702 Year 2: $49,787 Year 3: $58,036 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $58,745 Year 2: $57,318 Year 3: $57,935	Educational Administration and Supervision (Doctoral Degrees) Year 1: $118,716 Year 2: $98,186 Year 3: $125,726 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $95,047 Year 2: $88,920 Year 3: $96,563 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $91,161 Year 2: $91,587 Year 3: $94,214 Management Information Systems and Services (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $66,013 Year 2: $70,009 Year 3: $76,350 Computer Science (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $74,606 Year 2: $75,204 Year 3: $75,980 Mechanical Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $64,752 Year 2: $64,150 Year 3: $74,168 Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $70,234 Year 2: $66,989 Year 3: $74,151 Psychology, General (Doctoral Degrees) Year 1: $57,535 Year 2: $68,499 Year 3: $73,940 Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions (Doctoral Degrees) Year 1: $70,453 Year 2: $69,151 Year 3: $72,792 Accounting and Related Services (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $63,291 Year 2: $63,685 Year 3: $72,760

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