Mountain Empire Community College (MECC) vs Laurel Ridge Community College (LRCC)

Mountain Empire Community College and Laurel Ridge Community College, both esteemed institutions of higher learning, offer unique educational experiences tailored to diverse student aspirations. While they share the common goal of empowering students with knowledge and skills for success, they differ in several key aspects. Mountain Empire boasts a higher acceptance rate, welcoming a broader range of students, while Laurel Ridge maintains a more selective admissions process. In terms of academic offerings, Mountain Empire excels in programs like Business Administration and Management, while Laurel Ridge shines in fields such as Health Professions and Related Programs. Their student bodies reflect these distinctions, with Mountain Empire hosting a larger and more diverse population. As for graduation rates, Laurel Ridge holds a slight edge, indicating a higher level of student retention and success. To help you make an informed decision about your educational journey, we've compiled a comprehensive comparison table below, highlighting these differences and more. Explore the data and discover which college aligns best with your academic goals and personal preferences.

	Laurel Ridge Community College	Mountain Empire Community College
Overview
Location	Middletown, Virginia	Big Stone Gap, Virginia
Campus setting	Rural: Fringe	Town: Distant
College type	2 year	2 year
Control/business model	Public	Public
Calendar system	Semester	Semester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
Students retention rate	60.0%	68.0%
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: $19,519 Out of state: $25,522	In state: $14,385 Out of state: $20,388
Average net price	$8,359	$8,803
Tuition	In state: $4,620 Out of state: $9,918	In state: $4,620 Out of state: $9,918
Room & board
Available payment plans	Prepaid tuition plan Tuition payment plan	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	43.0% Average amount $3,196	98.0% Average amount $5,590
Students receiving federal student loan	5.0% Average amount $4,128	0.0% Average amount $0
Students taking out private loans	2.0% Average amount $5,523	1.0% Average amount $3,006

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	5,862 Men 37.2% Women 62.8%	2,079 Men 37.3% Women 62.7%
Graduate students	N/A	N/A
Racial/ethnic diversity	Low	Very Low
Out-of-state students	0.9%	1.0%
International students	0.5%	0.1%
Campus local/setting	Rural: Fringe	Town: Distant
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	Virginia West Virginia Florida	Virginia Tennessee

Academics
Popular study areas	Liberal Arts Health Professions Multidisciplinary Studies Computer and Information Science Engineering Technologies	Health Professions Liberal Arts Engineering Technologies Law Enforcement and Firefighting Construction Trades
Students to faculty ratio	25:1	19:1
Institutional accreditation	Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges	Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges

Outcome
Graduation rate	44.7%	44.1%
Dropout rate	38.0%	45.6%
Transferred out	11.0%	3.7%
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $54,854 Year 2: $55,383 Year 3: $61,843 Computer and Information Sciences, General (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $25,409 Year 2: $35,954 Year 3: $38,348 Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $26,691 Year 2: $23,768 Year 3: $30,049 Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities (Undergraduate Certificates or Diplomas) Year 1: $14,166 Year 2: $20,140 Year 3: $26,160 Biological and Physical Sciences (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $30,652 Year 2: $29,141 Year 3: N/A Health and Medical Administrative Services (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $28,598 Year 3: N/A Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions (Undergraduate Certificates or Diplomas) Year 1: $32,343 Year 2: $43,426 Year 3: N/A Mental and Social Health Services and Allied Professions (Undergraduate Certificates or Diplomas) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $25,194 Year 3: N/A	Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $49,999 Year 2: $50,161 Year 3: $52,521 Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $39,541 Year 2: $36,166 Year 3: $41,849 Practical Nursing, Vocational Nursing and Nursing Assistants (Undergraduate Certificates or Diplomas) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $30,771 Year 3: $30,684 Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $15,964 Year 3: $21,826 Mental and Social Health Services and Allied Professions (Undergraduate Certificates or Diplomas) Year 1: $18,788 Year 2: $19,508 Year 3: $21,200 Industrial Production Technologies/Technicians (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $31,719 Year 2: $35,600 Year 3: N/A Criminal Justice and Corrections (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $30,449 Year 2: $20,140 Year 3: N/A Business Operations Support and Assistant Services (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $24,047 Year 2: $20,824 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.