K-State vs CWU-Ellensburg

Kansas State University and Central Washington University, located in the heartland of America and the Pacific Northwest respectively, offer distinct educational experiences for prospective students. With acceptance rates of 84% and 91%, respectively, both universities welcome a diverse student body. Kansas State boasts a larger student population, with over 25,000 undergraduates, while Central Washington maintains a smaller, more intimate community of around 10,000 undergraduates. While Kansas State excels in STEM fields, Central Washington shines in education and nursing programs. Explore the detailed comparison table to discover more about these universities' graduation rates, tuition fees, and other key factors that will help you make an informed decision about your academic journey.

	Central Washington University	Kansas State University
Overview
Location	Ellensburg, Washington	Manhattan, Kansas
Campus setting	Town: Distant	City: Small
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Public	Public
Calendar system	Quarter	Semester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate and Graduate	Undergraduate and Graduate
Students retention rate	69.0%	86.0%
Common app member	Yes	Yes
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	88.4%	95.6%
Application fees	Undergraduate: $60 Graduate: $75	Undergraduate: $40 Graduate: $65
SAT range	N/A	N/A
ACT range	N/A	N/A
Students submitting SAT score
Students submitting ACT score
Total number of applicants	10,767	9,822
Total number of admissions given out	9,523	9,391
Admitted students who chose to enroll	1,371	2,848
Yield rate	14.4%	30.3%
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)	Not required	Not required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	In state: $22,248 Out of state: $38,776	In state: $23,866 Out of state: $39,937
Average net price	$17,645	$19,874
Tuition	In state: $6,656 Out of state: $23,184	In state: $9,489 Out of state: $25,560
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $7,645 Meal plan: $7,957	Room/dormitory: $5,200 Meal plan: $4,900
Available payment plans	Prepaid tuition plan Tuition payment plan	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	80.0% Average amount $7,378	88.0% Average amount $6,774
Students receiving federal student loan	41.0% Average amount $4,834	41.0% Average amount $5,095
Students taking out private loans	2.0% Average amount $14,197	5.0% Average amount $14,579

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	9,566 Men 47.0% Women 53.0%	15,619 Men 50.3% Women 49.7%
Graduate students	610 Men 37.4% Women 62.6%	4,610 Men 38.7% Women 61.3%
Racial/ethnic diversity	Moderate	Very Low
Out-of-state students	6.7%	21.8%
International students	2.7%	5.4%
Campus local/setting	Town: Distant	City: Small
Dormitory capacity	3,755	5,696
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	Washington California Oregon Hawaii Arkansas	Kansas Missouri Texas Nebraska Colorado

Academics
Popular study areas	Education Business Social Sciences Health Professions Visual & Performing Arts	Education Business Agriculture Engineering Multidisciplinary Studies
Students to faculty ratio	15:1	19:1
Institutional accreditation	Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities	Higher Learning Commission

Outcome
Graduation rate	53.6%	68.4%
Dropout rate	44.0%	9.3%
Transferred out	N/A	20.4%
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Electrical Engineering Technologies/Technicians (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $72,482 Year 3: $86,230 Construction Management (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $73,538 Year 2: $71,168 Year 3: $82,194 Quality Control and Safety Technologies/Technicians (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $68,024 Year 2: $65,486 Year 3: $79,944 Educational Administration and Supervision (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $58,531 Year 2: $61,020 Year 3: $77,665 Computer Science (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $63,052 Year 2: $52,941 Year 3: $69,645 Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $59,580 Year 2: $56,979 Year 3: $69,564 Accounting and Related Services (Master's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $55,151 Year 3: $62,577 Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $44,170 Year 3: $61,531 Economics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $38,008 Year 2: $39,369 Year 3: $58,391 Health and Physical Education/Fitness (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $47,842 Year 2: $50,606 Year 3: $58,240	Food Science and Technology (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $75,367 Year 2: $76,460 Year 3: $83,284 Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $68,831 Year 2: $71,734 Year 3: $83,247 Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $43,832 Year 2: $68,219 Year 3: $82,805 Chemical Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $71,780 Year 2: $70,456 Year 3: $81,885 Veterinary Medicine (First Professional Degrees) Year 1: $72,427 Year 2: N/A Year 3: $80,450 Construction Engineering Technologies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $65,948 Year 2: $62,012 Year 3: $79,928 Architectural Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $68,390 Year 2: $65,557 Year 3: $75,955 Mechanical Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $65,670 Year 2: $65,131 Year 3: $73,437 Agricultural and Food Products Processing (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $66,969 Year 2: $63,749 Year 3: $69,822 Civil Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $58,353 Year 2: $59,124 Year 3: $65,198

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