Harrisburg Area Community College (HACC) vs Susquehanna University

Harrisburg Area Community College (HACC) and Susquehanna University are two distinct institutions of higher learning in Pennsylvania, each offering unique educational experiences. HACC, a public community college, boasts an open admissions policy, making it accessible to a wide range of students. In contrast, Susquehanna University, a private liberal arts college, has a more selective admissions process, resulting in a lower acceptance rate. While HACC excels in providing affordable associate degrees and certificates, Susquehanna University focuses on offering bachelor's degrees in a diverse range of fields. Explore the detailed comparison table below to delve into further differences, including student body demographics, popular majors, graduation rates, and more, to determine which institution best aligns with your academic aspirations and goals.

	Harrisburg Area Community College	Susquehanna University
Overview
Location	Harrisburg, Pennsylvania	Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania
Campus setting	City: Small	Town: Distant
College type	2 year	4 year
Control/business model	Public	Private (Non Profit)
Calendar system	Semester	Semester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate	Undergraduate and Graduate
Students retention rate	56.0%	87.0%
Common app member	No	Yes
Religious affiliation		Evangelical

Admission
Acceptance rate	Open Admission	76.6%
Application fees
SAT range	N/A	N/A
ACT range	N/A	N/A
Students submitting SAT score
Students submitting ACT score
Total number of applicants		5,384
Total number of admissions given out		4,126
Admitted students who chose to enroll		555
Yield rate		13.5%
Test scores (SAT/ACT)	Not required	N/A
High school GPA	N/A	Required
Recommendation letters	N/A	Required
High school transcript	N/A	Not required
English proficiency test (e.g. TOEFL)	N/A	Required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	In state: $23,659 Out of state: $25,182	$70,800
Average net price	$12,147	$28,130
Tuition	In state: $6,795 Out of state: $8,168	$52,380
Room & board		Room/dormitory: $7,680 Meal plan: $6,670
Available payment plans	Tuition payment plan	Prepaid tuition plan Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	95.0% Average amount $4,168	96.0% Average amount $38,565
Students receiving federal student loan	45.0% Average amount $4,826	69.0% Average amount $5,424
Students taking out private loans	3.0% Average amount $7,267	20.0% Average amount $15,830

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	14,023 Men 32.8% Women 67.2%	2,197 Men 43.7% Women 56.3%
Graduate students	N/A	5 Men 0.0% Women 100.0%
Racial/ethnic diversity	Low	Very Low
Out-of-state students	0.8%	N/A
International students	1.6%	1.2%
Campus local/setting	City: Small	Town: Distant
Dormitory capacity	N/A	2,088
First year students are required to live on campus?	N/A	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	Pennsylvania Maryland New Jersey Delaware Florida	N/A

Academics
Popular study areas	Health Professions Business Liberal Arts Computer and Information Science Education	Business Communication and Journalism Biological and Biomedical Sciences Education Visual & Performing Arts
Students to faculty ratio	16:1	15:1
Institutional accreditation	Middle States Commission on Higher Education	Middle States Commission on Higher Education

Outcome
Graduation rate	15.5%	74.3%
Dropout rate	50.2%	25.5%
Transferred out	19.4%	N/A
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $62,046 Year 2: $59,527 Year 3: $62,466 Dental Support Services and Allied Professions (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $53,044 Year 2: $55,061 Year 3: $57,893 Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $50,129 Year 2: $53,839 Year 3: $54,010 Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science/Research and Allied Professions (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $48,142 Year 2: $49,423 Year 3: $53,711 Practical Nursing, Vocational Nursing and Nursing Assistants (Undergraduate Certificates or Diplomas) Year 1: $43,359 Year 2: $44,102 Year 3: $48,157 Computer Systems Networking and Telecommunications (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $37,733 Year 2: $40,512 Year 3: $45,275 Electrical and Power Transmission Installers (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $39,729 Year 3: $42,315 Computer and Information Sciences, General (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $34,075 Year 2: $37,208 Year 3: $42,066 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $32,314 Year 2: $32,747 Year 3: $39,836 Legal Support Services (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $31,324 Year 2: $34,348 Year 3: $38,084	Accounting and Related Services (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $60,280 Year 2: $58,221 Year 3: $65,753 Finance and Financial Management Services (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $53,032 Year 2: $47,846 Year 3: $62,846 Marketing (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $48,954 Year 2: $46,478 Year 3: $59,114 Design and Applied Arts (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $39,369 Year 3: $48,172 Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $25,616 Year 2: $37,424 Year 3: $43,781 Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $34,056 Year 2: $35,060 Year 3: $41,344 Radio, Television, and Digital Communication (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $22,192 Year 3: $36,709 Psychology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $27,088 Year 2: $26,353 Year 3: $28,686 Rhetoric and Composition/Writing Studies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $18,654 Year 2: $23,538 Year 3: $28,559 Political Science and Government (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $29,898 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A

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