Eureka College vs Northern Illinois University (NIU)

Eureka College and Northern Illinois University, two distinct institutions of higher learning, offer unique educational experiences to prospective students. Eureka College, a private liberal arts college, boasts a tight-knit community with a focus on personalized attention and undergraduate research opportunities. In contrast, Northern Illinois University, a public research university, provides a more extensive range of academic programs, including graduate degrees, and emphasizes hands-on learning through its cooperative education and internship programs. While both institutions offer a diverse range of majors, Eureka College excels in the humanities and social sciences, while Northern Illinois University is renowned for its programs in engineering, business, and education. Explore the detailed comparison table below to delve into further distinctions between these two esteemed institutions, considering factors such as acceptance rates, student body demographics, graduation rates, and available majors, to determine the ideal fit for your academic aspirations and personal preferences.

	Eureka College	Northern Illinois University
Overview
Location	Eureka, Illinois	Dekalb, Illinois
Campus setting	Town: Fringe	Suburb: Small
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Private (Non Profit)	Public
Calendar system	Semester	Semester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate	Undergraduate and Graduate
Students retention rate	60.0%	67.0%
Common app member	Yes	Yes
Religious affiliation	Protestant

Admission
Acceptance rate	86.7%	70.4%
Application fees		Undergraduate: $40 Graduate: $60
SAT range	870 - 1155	N/A
ACT range	16 - 23	N/A
Students submitting SAT score	48.0%
Students submitting ACT score	15.0%
Total number of applicants	877	22,602
Total number of admissions given out	760	15,922
Admitted students who chose to enroll	119	2,285
Yield rate	15.7%	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	$42,889	$27,218
Average net price	$20,931	$13,265
Tuition	$27,450	$9,606
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $4,925 Meal plan: $5,304	$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)	100.0% Average amount $17,948	98.0% Average amount $13,008
Students receiving federal student loan	67.0% Average amount $5,335	58.0% Average amount $5,313
Students taking out private loans	14.0% Average amount $13,882	5.0% Average amount $11,726

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	476 Men 55.3% Women 44.7%	11,834 Men 47.1% Women 52.9%
Graduate students	N/A	4,400 Men 40.8% Women 59.2%
Racial/ethnic diversity	Low	Moderate
Out-of-state students	17.1%	N/A
International students	1.0%	4.6%
Campus local/setting	Town: Fringe	Suburb: Small
Dormitory capacity	465	4,500
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	Illinois Florida Georgia Alabama Texas	N/A

Academics
Popular study areas	Law Enforcement and Firefighting Education Kinesiology & Leisure Studies Psychology Visual & Performing Arts	Education Health Professions Business Engineering Computer and Information Science
Students to faculty ratio	12:1	15:1
Institutional accreditation	Higher Learning Commission	Higher Learning Commission

Outcome
Graduation rate	51.8%	50.8%
Dropout rate	13.4%	46.9%
Transferred out	34.8%	N/A
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Business Administration, Management and Operations (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $33,688 Year 2: $35,274 Year 3: $45,780 Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $35,252 Year 2: $31,423 Year 3: $34,360 Psychology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $29,685 Year 3: $33,424 Communication and Media Studies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $29,685 Year 3: N/A English Language and Literature, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $25,194 Year 3: N/A Criminal Justice and Corrections (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $30,898 Year 2: $35,060 Year 3: N/A History (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $30,173 Year 3: N/A	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

Compare Similar Colleges

The list of suggested college comparisons provided below is generated automatically by our system, utilizing statistics gathered from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and various online sources. If you don't find the colleges you wish to compare, please visit our comparison page. There, you can search for the specific colleges and initiate your comparison.

Eureka College

Thomas University