Missouri Southern State University (MSSU) vs USC Upstate

Missouri Southern State University and University of South Carolina-Upstate, both public institutions, offer distinct educational experiences. Missouri Southern, located in Joplin, Missouri, has a higher acceptance rate (88%) compared to University of South Carolina-Upstate's 73%. While both universities offer a diverse range of undergraduate programs, Missouri Southern excels in engineering and health professions, while University of South Carolina-Upstate is known for its business and education programs. Explore the detailed comparison table to discover more about the differences in student demographics, graduation rates, and other key factors that can help you make an informed decision about your academic journey.

	Missouri Southern State University	University of South Carolina-Upstate
Overview
Location	Joplin, Missouri	Spartanburg, South Carolina
Campus setting	City: Small	Suburb: Midsize
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Public	Public
Calendar system	Semester	Semester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate and Graduate	Undergraduate and Graduate
Students retention rate	59.0%	61.0%
Common app member	Yes	No
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	96.9%	75.7%
Application fees	Undergraduate: $30 Graduate: $35	Undergraduate: $45 Graduate: $45
SAT range	950 - 1170	950 - 1150
ACT range	18 - 24	19 - 23
Students submitting SAT score	6.0%	26.0%
Students submitting ACT score	80.0%	19.0%
Total number of applicants	1,695	2,893
Total number of admissions given out	1,642	2,190
Admitted students who chose to enroll	578	597
Yield rate	35.2%	27.3%
Test scores (SAT/ACT)	N/A	N/A
High school GPA	Required	Not 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: $19,321 Out of state: $26,913	In state: $28,648 Out of state: $39,610
Average net price	$9,703	$14,816
Tuition	In state: $7,244 Out of state: $14,836	In state: $11,208 Out of state: $22,170
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $4,400 Meal plan: $5,652	Room/dormitory: $5,614 Meal plan: $3,714
Available payment plans	Tuition payment plan	Prepaid tuition plan Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	94.0% Average amount $6,885	96.0% Average amount $8,974
Students receiving federal student loan	46.0% Average amount $4,602	62.0% Average amount $5,480
Students taking out private loans	2.0% Average amount $8,077	4.0% Average amount $8,248

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	4,245 Men 38.9% Women 61.1%	4,981 Men 32.7% Women 67.3%
Graduate students	107 Men 32.7% Women 67.3%	457 Men 13.6% Women 86.4%
Racial/ethnic diversity	Low	Moderate
Out-of-state students	22.1%	8.2%
International students	2.5%	1.2%
Campus local/setting	City: Small	Suburb: Midsize
Dormitory capacity	735	1,055
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	Missouri Kansas Arkansas Oklahoma Texas	South Carolina Georgia North Carolina Florida Texas

Academics
Popular study areas	Business Health Professions Law Enforcement and Firefighting Education Liberal Arts	Health Professions Education Business Biological and Biomedical Sciences Psychology
Students to faculty ratio	15:1	15:1
Institutional accreditation	Higher Learning Commission	Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges

Outcome
Graduation rate	37.0%	47.4%
Dropout rate	32.2%	19.2%
Transferred out	27.4%	31.9%
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Industrial Production Technologies/Technicians (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $57,318 Year 3: $64,678 Dental Support Services and Allied Professions (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $51,482 Year 3: $54,298 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $53,753 Year 2: $54,515 Year 3: $54,231 Computer and Information Sciences, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $50,466 Year 2: $47,930 Year 3: $52,943 Health Professions and Related Clinical Sciences, Other (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $47,016 Year 2: $43,426 Year 3: $49,539 Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $42,123 Year 3: $42,995 Business/Commerce, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $38,297 Year 2: $38,946 Year 3: $42,227 Health and Physical Education/Fitness (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $31,440 Year 2: $26,121 Year 3: $40,971 Biology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $26,859 Year 2: N/A Year 3: $40,702 Communication and Media Studies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $31,697 Year 2: $32,391 Year 3: $37,967	Engineering-Related Fields (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $60,614 Year 2: $59,124 Year 3: $70,562 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $61,719 Year 2: $57,512 Year 3: $60,107 Information Science/Studies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $43,885 Year 2: N/A Year 3: $52,577 Computer and Information Sciences, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $42,033 Year 2: $45,500 Year 3: $50,407 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $37,902 Year 2: $37,088 Year 3: $43,565 Biology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $28,960 Year 3: $37,957 Criminal Justice and Corrections (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $31,958 Year 2: $32,439 Year 3: $37,264 History (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $21,254 Year 2: $32,284 Year 3: $37,102 Health and Physical Education/Fitness (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $32,772 Year 3: $35,463 Fine and Studio Arts (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $27,350 Year 2: $23,649 Year 3: $33,671

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