Holy Names University vs Occidental College

Holy Names University and Occidental College, both located in California, offer distinct educational experiences. Holy Names, a private Catholic university, boasts a 100% acceptance rate, while Occidental, a private liberal arts college, has a more selective admissions process with an acceptance rate of 44%. Holy Names' student body is predominantly female (70%), while Occidental's is more evenly balanced (52% female, 48% male). Both institutions offer a diverse range of undergraduate programs, with popular majors at Holy Names including nursing, psychology, and business administration, and popular majors at Occidental including economics, biology, and psychology. While Holy Names has a higher graduation rate (70%) compared to Occidental's 67%, both universities provide ample opportunities for students to succeed academically and professionally. Explore the detailed comparison table below to discover more key differences and similarities between these two esteemed institutions.

	Holy Names University	Occidental College
Overview
Location	Oakland, California	Los Angeles, California
Campus setting	City: Large	City: Large
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Private (Non Profit)	Private (Non Profit)
Calendar system	Semester	Semester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate and Graduate	Undergraduate and Graduate
Students retention rate	62.0%	92.0%
Common app member	No	Yes
Religious affiliation	Catholic

Admission
Acceptance rate	95.3%	38.2%
Application fees		Undergraduate: $70 Graduate: $60
SAT range	N/A	1340 - 1490
ACT range	N/A	30 - 33
Students submitting SAT score		29.0%
Students submitting ACT score		22.0%
Total number of applicants	703	6,495
Total number of admissions given out	670	2,484
Admitted students who chose to enroll	98	535
Yield rate	14.6%	21.5%
Test scores (SAT/ACT)	N/A	N/A
High school GPA	Required	Not required
Recommendation letters	Not required	Required
High school transcript	Not required	Not required
English proficiency test (e.g. TOEFL)	Required	Required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	$64,043	$77,878
Average net price	$21,515	$43,047
Tuition	$40,368	$57,830
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $7,226 Meal plan: $6,768	Room/dormitory: $9,512 Meal plan: $8,090
Available payment plans	Tuition payment plan	Prepaid tuition plan Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	100.0% Average amount $33,511	100.0% Average amount $29,715
Students receiving federal student loan	75.0% Average amount $5,485	31.0% Average amount $4,603
Students taking out private loans	0.0% Average amount $0	17.0% Average amount $6,554

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	596 Men 33.4% Women 66.6%	1,964 Men 42.1% Women 57.9%
Graduate students	419 Men 25.5% Women 74.5%	N/A
Racial/ethnic diversity	Moderate	Moderate
Out-of-state students	N/A	62.5%
International students	3.2%	6.3%
Campus local/setting	City: Large	City: Large
Dormitory capacity	440	1,650
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	Yes
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	N/A	California Washington New York Illinois Mississippi

Academics
Popular study areas	Psychology Education Health Professions Business Kinesiology & Leisure Studies	Social Sciences Biological and Biomedical Sciences Physical Science Multidisciplinary Studies Visual & Performing Arts
Students to faculty ratio	9:1	9:1
Institutional accreditation	Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior Colleges and University Commission	Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior Colleges and University Commission

Outcome
Graduation rate	58.0%	82.9%
Dropout rate	21.9%	4.1%
Transferred out	3.4%	12.6%
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $131,135 Year 2: $137,605 Year 3: $146,003 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $90,368 Year 2: $86,867 Year 3: $109,835 Clinical, Counseling and Applied Psychology (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $62,070 Year 2: $46,478 Year 3: $48,788 Educational Administration and Supervision (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $52,636 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Health and Physical Education/Fitness (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $29,927 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Psychology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $31,305 Year 3: N/A Business Administration, Management and Operations (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $37,840 Year 2: $36,141 Year 3: N/A	Economics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $46,544 Year 2: $55,078 Year 3: $63,231 Political Science and Government (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $42,360 Year 2: $37,779 Year 3: $49,843 International Relations and National Security Studies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $38,329 Year 2: $36,132 Year 3: $45,083 Natural Resources Conservation and Research (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $29,948 Year 2: $37,208 Year 3: $43,488 Cultural Studies/Critical Theory and Analysis (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: N/A Year 3: $33,877 Fine and Studio Arts (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $25,967 Year 3: $31,152 Biology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $25,035 Year 2: $26,933 Year 3: $31,095 Psychology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $25,916 Year 2: $30,047 Year 3: $30,729 Area Studies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $39,369 Year 3: N/A Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $15,793 Year 2: $35,060 Year 3: N/A

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