Mars Hill University vs Eastern Kentucky University (EKU)

Mars Hill University and Eastern Kentucky University, both esteemed institutions of higher learning, offer distinct educational experiences. Mars Hill, a private university nestled in the picturesque Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, boasts a selective admissions process with an acceptance rate of 68%. Eastern Kentucky, a public university located in the vibrant city of Richmond, Kentucky, welcomes a broader range of students with an acceptance rate of 86%. While Mars Hill's student body is predominantly White (84%), Eastern Kentucky's student population is more diverse, with 78% identifying as White, 10% as Black or African American, and 6% as Hispanic or Latino. Both universities offer a wide range of undergraduate programs, with popular majors at Mars Hill including Business, Education, and Psychology, and popular majors at Eastern Kentucky including Nursing, Business, and Education. With graduation rates of 58% and 40% respectively, Mars Hill and Eastern Kentucky provide students with the opportunity to pursue their

	Eastern Kentucky University	Mars Hill University
Overview
Location	Richmond, Kentucky	Mars Hill, North Carolina
Campus setting	Town: Distant	Suburb: Large
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Public	Private (Non Profit)
Calendar system	Semester	Semester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate and Graduate	Undergraduate and Graduate
Students retention rate	74.0%	74.0%
Common app member	No	No
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	98.3%	79.5%
Application fees
SAT range	950 - 1180	N/A
ACT range	18 - 24	N/A
Students submitting SAT score	4.0%
Students submitting ACT score	88.0%
Total number of applicants	7,251	1,713
Total number of admissions given out	7,131	1,362
Admitted students who chose to enroll	2,493	302
Yield rate	35.0%	22.2%
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	Not required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	In state: $23,762 Out of state: $34,034	$45,251
Average net price	$14,271	$18,717
Tuition	In state: $9,452 Out of state: $19,724	$35,655
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $5,416 Meal plan: $3,994	$9,934
Available payment plans	Guaranteed tuition plan Tuition payment plan	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	98.0% Average amount $9,891	99.0% Average amount $27,309
Students receiving federal student loan	49.0% Average amount $4,950	74.0% Average amount $5,350
Students taking out private loans	5.0% Average amount $10,455	15.0% Average amount $14,231

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	11,684 Men 40.6% Women 59.4%	1,026 Men 49.2% Women 50.8%
Graduate students	2,300 Men 30.0% Women 70.0%	47 Men 48.9% Women 51.1%
Racial/ethnic diversity	Very Low	Low
Out-of-state students	N/A	40.0%
International students	1.1%	5.3%
Campus local/setting	Town: Distant	Suburb: Large
Dormitory capacity	4,479	839
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	Ohio Illinois Indiana West Virginia	North Carolina Georgia Florida South Carolina Tennessee

Academics
Popular study areas	Health Professions Education Law Enforcement and Firefighting Liberal Arts Engineering Technologies	Health Professions Education Law Enforcement and Firefighting Biological and Biomedical Sciences Public Administration and Social Service
Students to faculty ratio	15:1	9:1
Institutional accreditation	Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges	Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges

Outcome
Graduation rate	47.8%	33.5%
Dropout rate	48.5%	37.9%
Transferred out	1.6%	28.6%
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Graduate/Professional Certificates) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $110,878 Year 3: $113,532 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $94,123 Year 2: $90,291 Year 3: $95,519 Quality Control and Safety Technologies/Technicians (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $67,935 Year 2: $69,338 Year 3: $78,046 Homeland Security, Law Enforcement, Firefighting and Related Protective Services, Other (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $73,209 Year 2: $74,105 Year 3: $74,692 Construction Management (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $59,585 Year 2: $57,318 Year 3: $71,030 Educational Administration and Supervision (First Professional Degrees) Year 1: $54,959 Year 2: $60,523 Year 3: $62,961 Computer and Information Sciences, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $50,605 Year 2: $49,019 Year 3: $62,600 Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $56,959 Year 2: $60,523 Year 3: $61,708 Fire Protection (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $48,702 Year 2: $49,787 Year 3: $58,036 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $58,745 Year 2: $57,318 Year 3: $57,935	Biology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $26,739 Year 3: $40,958 Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $33,795 Year 2: $29,685 Year 3: $36,962 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $34,637 Year 2: $32,391 Year 3: $36,750 Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $36,437 Year 3: $36,608 Social Work (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $31,048 Year 2: $33,726 Year 3: $36,441 Special Education and Teaching (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $38,289 Year 3: N/A Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods (Master's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $41,205 Year 3: N/A Psychology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $25,194 Year 3: N/A Criminal Justice and Corrections (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $25,836 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $58,645 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A

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