Imperial Valley College vs Cuesta

Imperial Valley College and Cuesta College, both esteemed community colleges in California, offer unique educational experiences tailored to diverse student aspirations. Imperial Valley College, nestled in the heart of Imperial Valley, boasts an acceptance rate of 100%, welcoming all students with open arms. Cuesta College, located in San Luis Obispo County, maintains a slightly more selective admissions policy with an acceptance rate of 99%. While Imperial Valley College predominantly serves Hispanic students, Cuesta College's student body is more diverse, with a significant representation of White and Asian students. Both institutions offer a wide range of academic programs, with popular majors including Liberal Arts and Humanities, Business, and Health Professions. However, Cuesta College boasts a higher graduation rate, with 28% of students completing their studies within three years, compared to Imperial Valley College's 15%. Explore the comprehensive comparison table below to delve into further details and discover which college aligns best with your academic goals and preferences.

	Cuesta College	Imperial Valley College
Overview
Location	San Luis Obispo, California	Imperial, California
Campus setting	Suburb: Small	Rural: Fringe
College type	2 year	2 year
Control/business model	Public	Public
Calendar system	Semester	Semester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
Students retention rate	66.0%	77.0%
Common app member	No	No
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	Open Admission	Open Admission
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
Total number of admissions given out
Admitted students who chose to enroll
Yield rate
Test scores (SAT/ACT)	Not required	Not required
High school GPA	N/A	N/A
Recommendation letters	N/A	N/A
High school transcript	N/A	N/A
English proficiency test (e.g. TOEFL)	N/A	N/A

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	In state: $25,602 Out of state: $32,966	In state: $25,390 Out of state: $30,910
Average net price	$14,586	$2,300
Tuition	In state: $1,288 Out of state: $8,652	In state: $1,104 Out of state: $6,624
Room & board
Available payment plans

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	77.0% Average amount $4,087	94.0% Average amount $7,842
Students receiving federal student loan	2.0% Average amount $6,557
Students taking out private loans	0.0% Average amount $0

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	9,661 Men 47.9% Women 52.1%	7,225 Men 41.6% Women 58.4%
Graduate students	N/A	N/A
Racial/ethnic diversity	Moderate	Very Low
Out-of-state students	4.0%	6.9%
International students	0.2%	0.0%
Campus local/setting	Suburb: Small	Rural: Fringe
Dormitory capacity	N/A	N/A
First year students are required to live on campus?	N/A	N/A
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	California Oregon Connecticut Illinois Kansas	California

Academics
Popular study areas	Liberal Arts Business Health Professions Education Family and Consumer Sciences	Multidisciplinary Studies Liberal Arts Law Enforcement and Firefighting Psychology Social Sciences
Students to faculty ratio	25:1	32:1
Institutional accreditation	Western Association of Schools and Colleges Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges	Western Association of Schools and Colleges Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges

Outcome
Graduation rate	43.2%	36.3%
Dropout rate	39.6%	41.5%
Transferred out	8.5%	4.9%
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $79,884 Year 3: $85,944 Mental and Social Health Services and Allied Professions (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $64,744 Year 2: $61,516 Year 3: $61,763 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $24,267 Year 3: $44,025 Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $31,966 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A	Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $61,127 Year 2: $65,238 Year 3: $71,621 Biological and Physical Sciences (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $16,769 Year 2: $26,896 Year 3: $40,086 Criminal Justice and Corrections (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $18,385 Year 2: $17,794 Year 3: $25,987 Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $12,572 Year 2: $14,759 Year 3: $20,293 Psychology, General (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $10,969 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Practical Nursing, Vocational Nursing and Nursing Assistants (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $33,565 Year 3: N/A

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Imperial Valley College vs Cuesta

Cuesta College

Imperial Valley College

Overview

Admission

Tuition and Fees

Financial Aid

Students and Campus

Academics

Outcome

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