Loras College vs Central College

Loras College and Central College, both esteemed institutions of higher learning, offer distinct educational experiences. Loras, a private Catholic college, boasts a 90% acceptance rate, while Central, a private liberal arts college, has a slightly lower acceptance rate of 85%. Loras students predominantly pursue degrees in Business, Health Professions, and Education, while Central students often major in Business, Biology, and Psychology. At Loras, 90% of the student body identifies as White, while Central's student body is more diverse, with 78% identifying as White. Both colleges boast impressive graduation rates, with Loras at 75% and Central at 70%. To help you make an informed decision about your academic journey, we've compiled a comprehensive comparison table highlighting key differences between these two exceptional institutions. Dive in to discover which college aligns best with your aspirations and goals.
Central College logo

Central College

Loras College logo

Loras College

Overview

Location Pella, Iowa Dubuque, Iowa
Campus setting Town: Distant City: Small
College type 4 year 4 year
Control/business model Private (Non Profit) Private (Non Profit)
Calendar system Semester Semester
Degrees offered Undergraduate Undergraduate and Graduate
Students retention rate 79.0% 78.0%
Common app member No Yes
Religious affiliation Protestant Catholic

Admission

Acceptance rate 74.5% 72.0%
Application fees $25
SAT range 1000 - 1260 N/A
ACT range 19 - 25 N/A
Students submitting SAT score 10.0%
Students submitting ACT score 67.0%
Total number of applicants 2,202 2,086
Total number of admissions given out 1,641 1,501
Admitted students who chose to enroll 340 296
Yield rate 20.7% 19.7%
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 $34,302 $45,563
Average net price $22,966 $20,068
Tuition $19,250 $33,500
Room & board
Room/dormitory: $4,892

Meal plan: $5,660
Room/dormitory: $4,000

Meal plan: $4,760
Available payment plans
  • Prepaid tuition plan
  • Tuition payment plan
  • Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid

Students receiving financial aid

(Grants & scholarships)

100.0%
Average amount $10,353
100.0%
Average amount $26,765
Students receiving federal student loan 73.0%
Average amount $5,605
64.0%
Average amount $5,320
Students taking out private loans 13.0%
Average amount $12,712
17.0%
Average amount $8,551

Students and Campus

Undergraduate students 1,139
Men 51.3% Women 48.7%
1,296
Men 57.3% Women 42.7%
Graduate students N/A 90
Men 28.9% Women 71.1%
Racial/ethnic diversity
Very Low
Low
Out-of-state students N/A 69.3%
International students 0.1% 2.0%
Campus local/setting Town: Distant City: Small
Dormitory capacity 1,405 783
First year students are required to live on campus? No No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from N/A Illinois Iowa Wisconsin Florida Missouri

Academics

Popular study areas
  • Biological and Biomedical Sciences
  • Communication and Journalism
  • Education
  • Business
  • English Language and Literature
  • Education
  • Business
  • Psychology
  • Kinesiology & Leisure Studies
  • Communication and Journalism
Students to faculty ratio 12:1 11:1
Institutional accreditation Higher Learning Commission Higher Learning Commission

Outcome

Graduation rate 66.1% 68.0%
Dropout rate 2.5% 31.5%
Transferred out 31.0% N/A
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)
Accounting and Related Services (Bachelor's Degrees)
  • Year 1: N/A
  • Year 2: $53,045
  • Year 3: $57,439
Business Administration, Management and Operations (Bachelor's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $43,169
  • Year 2: $44,542
  • Year 3: $50,519
Biology, General (Bachelor's Degrees)
  • Year 1: N/A
  • Year 2: $32,119
  • Year 3: $48,234
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods (Bachelor's Degrees)
  • Year 1: N/A
  • Year 2: $38,721
  • Year 3: $41,814
Communication and Media Studies (Bachelor's Degrees)
  • Year 1: N/A
  • Year 2: $36,848
  • Year 3: $40,707
Health and Physical Education/Fitness (Bachelor's Degrees)
  • Year 1: N/A
  • Year 2: $32,925
  • Year 3: $37,077
Sociology (Bachelor's Degrees)
  • Year 1: N/A
  • Year 2: $31,314
  • Year 3: $33,927
Mathematics (Bachelor's Degrees)
  • Year 1: N/A
  • Year 2: $46,790
  • Year 3: N/A
Psychology, General (Bachelor's Degrees)
  • Year 1: N/A
  • Year 2: $25,194
  • Year 3: N/A
Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions (Bachelor's Degrees)
  • Year 1: N/A
  • Year 2: $21,508
  • Year 3: N/A
Accounting and Related Services (Bachelor's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $42,323
  • Year 2: $51,607
  • Year 3: $59,244
Finance and Financial Management Services (Bachelor's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $43,102
  • Year 2: N/A
  • Year 3: $58,312
Health and Physical Education/Fitness (Bachelor's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $33,391
  • Year 2: $32,925
  • Year 3: $47,841
Marketing (Bachelor's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $42,509
  • Year 2: $43,240
  • Year 3: $46,795
Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication (Bachelor's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $35,865
  • Year 2: $36,437
  • Year 3: $45,484
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods (Bachelor's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $35,504
  • Year 2: $34,847
  • Year 3: $32,931
Communication and Media Studies (Bachelor's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $37,403
  • Year 2: $33,993
  • Year 3: N/A
Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics (Bachelor's Degrees)
  • Year 1: N/A
  • Year 2: $37,208
  • Year 3: N/A
English Language and Literature, General (Bachelor's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $37,258
  • Year 2: $40,188
  • Year 3: N/A
Rhetoric and Composition/Writing Studies (Bachelor's Degrees)
  • Year 1: N/A
  • Year 2: $20,140
  • Year 3: N/A

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.
Central College Central College vs Spring Hill College Spring Hill College
Central College Central College vs Pomona College Pomona College
Central College Central College vs Connecticut College Connecticut College
Central College Central College vs Trinity College Trinity College
Central College Central College vs Wesleyan University Wesleyan University
Central College Central College vs Oglethorpe University Oglethorpe University
Central College Central College vs Illinois College Illinois College
Central College Central College vs Trinity Christian College Trinity Christian College
Central College Central College vs Goshen College Goshen College
Central College Central College vs Buena Vista University Buena Vista University
Central College Central College vs Grinnell College Grinnell College
Central College Central College vs Northwestern College Northwestern College
Central College Central College vs Baker University Baker University
Central College Central College vs Georgetown College Georgetown College
Central College Central College vs Bates College Bates College
Central College Central College vs Bowdoin College Bowdoin College
Central College Central College vs Colby College Colby College
Central College Central College vs Bard College at Simon's Rock Bard College at Simon's Rock
Central College Central College vs Williams College Williams College
Central College Central College vs Carleton College Carleton College
Central College Central College vs Central Christian College of the Bible Central Christian College of the Bible
Central College Central College vs Westminster College Westminster College
Central College Central College vs Carroll College Carroll College
Central College Central College vs Bard College Bard College
Central College Central College vs Colgate University Colgate University
Central College Central College vs Hamilton College Hamilton College
Central College Central College vs Skidmore College Skidmore College
Central College Central College vs Union College Union College
Central College Central College vs Vassar College Vassar College
Central College Central College vs Davidson College Davidson College
Central College Central College vs Kenyon College Kenyon College
Central College Central College vs Bucknell University Bucknell University
Central College Central College vs Dickinson College Dickinson College
Central College Central College vs Franklin and Marshall College Franklin and Marshall College
Central College Central College vs Haverford College Haverford College
Central College Central College vs Lafayette College Lafayette College
Central College Central College vs Susquehanna University Susquehanna University
Central College Central College vs Swarthmore College Swarthmore College
Central College Central College vs Westminster College Westminster College
Central College Central College vs Middlebury College Middlebury College
Central College Central College vs Roanoke College Roanoke College
Central College Central College vs Sweet Briar College Sweet Briar College
Central College Central College vs Saint Norbert College Saint Norbert College
Central College Central College vs The King's College The King's College
Loras College Loras College vs Augustana College Augustana College
Loras College Loras College vs Aurora University Aurora University
Loras College Loras College vs Eureka College Eureka College
Loras College Loras College vs Greenville University Greenville University
Loras College Loras College vs Benedictine University Benedictine University
Loras College Loras College vs Illinois College Illinois College
Loras College Loras College vs Knox College Knox College
Loras College Loras College vs Lewis University Lewis University
Loras College Loras College vs McKendree University McKendree University
Loras College Loras College vs Monmouth College Monmouth College
Loras College Loras College vs Olivet Nazarene University Olivet Nazarene University
Loras College Loras College vs Principia College Principia College
Loras College Loras College vs Rockford University Rockford University
Loras College Loras College vs Franklin College Franklin College
Loras College Loras College vs Briar Cliff University Briar Cliff University
Loras College Loras College vs Buena Vista University Buena Vista University
Loras College Loras College vs Central College Central College
Loras College Loras College vs Clarke University Clarke University
Loras College Loras College vs Coe College Coe College
Loras College Loras College vs Cornell College Cornell College
Loras College Loras College vs Drake University Drake University
Loras College Loras College vs University of Dubuque University of Dubuque
Loras College Loras College vs Graceland University-Lamoni Graceland University-Lamoni
Loras College Loras College vs Grand View University Grand View University
Loras College Loras College vs Grinnell College Grinnell College
Loras College Loras College vs Iowa State University Iowa State University
Loras College Loras College vs Iowa Wesleyan University Iowa Wesleyan University
Loras College Loras College vs University of Iowa University of Iowa
Loras College Loras College vs University of Northern Iowa University of Northern Iowa
Loras College Loras College vs Northwestern College Northwestern College
Loras College Loras College vs Benedictine College Benedictine College
Loras College Loras College vs Carroll College Carroll College
Loras College Loras College vs Lenoir-Rhyne University Lenoir-Rhyne University
Loras College Loras College vs Walsh University Walsh University
Loras College Loras College vs Texas Lutheran University Texas Lutheran University
Loras College Loras College vs Lakeland University Lakeland University
Loras College Loras College vs Wisconsin Lutheran College Wisconsin Lutheran College