FMU-Florence vs Fort Valley State University (FVSU)

Francis Marion University and Fort Valley State University, both esteemed institutions of higher learning, offer unique educational experiences to their students. Francis Marion, located in Florence, South Carolina, boasts a higher acceptance rate (75%) compared to Fort Valley State's 58% in Fort Valley, Georgia. While Fort Valley State has a larger student body, Francis Marion maintains a smaller average class size, fostering a more personalized learning environment. Both universities offer diverse academic programs, with popular majors ranging from business and education to nursing and psychology. However, Fort Valley State stands out with its strong agricultural sciences programs, while Francis Marion excels in criminal justice and homeland security. Explore the comprehensive comparison table below to delve into further details about these universities, including graduation rates, student demographics, and more, to help you make an informed decision about your academic journey.

	Fort Valley State University	Francis Marion University
Overview
Location	Fort Valley, Georgia	Florence, South Carolina
Campus setting	Town: Fringe	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	67.0%	66.0%
Common app member	No	No
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	72.3%	86.1%
Application fees	Undergraduate: $20 Graduate: $20	Undergraduate: $41 Graduate: $41
SAT range	810 - 950	930 - 1120
ACT range	16 - 19	15 - 22
Students submitting SAT score	25.0%	20.0%
Students submitting ACT score	26.0%	19.0%
Total number of applicants	5,403	3,028
Total number of admissions given out	3,904	2,608
Admitted students who chose to enroll	756	699
Yield rate	19.4%	26.8%
Test scores (SAT/ACT)	N/A	N/A
High school GPA	Required	Required
Recommendation letters	Not required	Not required
High school transcript	Not required	Not required
English proficiency test (e.g. TOEFL)	Required	Required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	In state: $15,832 Out of state: $26,554	In state: $24,351 Out of state: $34,735
Average net price	$13,093	$13,299
Tuition	In state: $4,064 Out of state: $14,786	In state: $10,384 Out of state: $20,768
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $4,722 Meal plan: $3,650	$8,230
Available payment plans	Tuition payment plan	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	95.0% Average amount $8,343	98.0% Average amount $10,192
Students receiving federal student loan	75.0% Average amount $6,166	59.0% Average amount $5,579
Students taking out private loans	2.0% Average amount $6,811	4.0% Average amount $7,593

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	2,666 Men 37.0% Women 63.0%	3,475 Men 33.3% Women 66.7%
Graduate students	257 Men 24.5% Women 75.5%	448 Men 22.8% Women 77.2%
Racial/ethnic diversity	Very Low	Low
Out-of-state students	12.0%	4.4%
International students	0.6%	1.6%
Campus local/setting	Town: Fringe	Suburb: Small
Dormitory capacity	1,403	1,413
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	Georgia Florida Alabama South Carolina California	South Carolina North Carolina Florida Georgia Texas

Academics
Popular study areas	Health Professions Business Agriculture Psychology Biological and Biomedical Sciences	Health Professions Education Business Psychology Visual & Performing Arts
Students to faculty ratio	21:1	13:1
Institutional accreditation	Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges	Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges

Outcome
Graduation rate	44.9%	43.2%
Dropout rate	24.4%	15.9%
Transferred out	29.0%	38.3%
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Computer and Information Sciences, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $29,685 Year 3: $50,458 Public Health (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $37,291 Year 2: $32,925 Year 3: $39,883 Mental and Social Health Services and Allied Professions (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $28,404 Year 2: $36,608 Year 3: $38,390 Information Science/Studies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $33,281 Year 3: $37,191 Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $38,096 Year 2: $35,060 Year 3: $35,727 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $27,563 Year 2: $30,554 Year 3: $33,938 Biology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $22,919 Year 2: $21,964 Year 3: $33,366 Criminal Justice and Corrections (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $31,519 Year 2: $27,995 Year 3: $31,943 Journalism (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $20,687 Year 3: $27,475 Psychology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $23,649 Year 3: $24,351	Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $97,582 Year 2: $101,964 Year 3: $110,561 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $59,618 Year 2: $58,866 Year 3: $60,568 Special Education and Teaching (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $41,080 Year 2: $43,426 Year 3: $47,870 Accounting and Related Services (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $38,649 Year 3: $40,311 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $29,861 Year 2: $28,443 Year 3: $34,636 Political Science and Government (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $25,038 Year 2: $28,598 Year 3: $34,338 Marketing (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $25,535 Year 2: $31,314 Year 3: $34,010 Biology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $23,804 Year 2: $28,180 Year 3: $32,997 Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $31,805 Year 2: $30,157 Year 3: $32,022 History (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $22,652 Year 3: $31,548

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.