NSU-Aberdeen vs California State University-Northridge (CSUN)

Northern State University and California State University-Northridge, two distinct institutions with unique offerings, stand ready to shape your academic journey. Northern, nestled in the heart of South Dakota, boasts a tight-knit community and a focus on undergraduate education, while CSUN, located in the vibrant San Fernando Valley, offers a diverse student body and a wide range of graduate programs. With acceptance rates of 88% and 48%, respectively, these universities cater to students with varying academic backgrounds. Dive into our comprehensive comparison table to explore their differences in popular majors, student demographics, graduation rates, and more, and discover which university aligns best with your aspirations and goals.

	California State University-Northridge	Northern State University
Overview
Location	Northridge, California	Aberdeen, South Dakota
Campus setting	City: Large	Town: Remote
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	82.0%	68.0%
Common app member	No	No
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	88.1%	79.8%
Application fees	Undergraduate: $70 Graduate: $70	Undergraduate: $20 Graduate: $35
SAT range	N/A	1020 - 1190
ACT range	N/A	18 - 24
Students submitting SAT score		5.0%
Students submitting ACT score		80.0%
Total number of applicants	23,656	1,229
Total number of admissions given out	20,842	981
Admitted students who chose to enroll	4,716	337
Yield rate	22.6%	34.4%
Test scores (SAT/ACT)	N/A	N/A
High school GPA	Required	Required
Recommendation letters	Not required	Not required
High school transcript	Not required	Required
English proficiency test (e.g. TOEFL)	Not required	Required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	In state: $31,857 Out of state: $43,737	In state: $23,495 Out of state: $26,597
Average net price	$8,708	$16,821
Tuition	In state: $5,742 Out of state: $17,622	In state: $7,616 Out of state: $10,718
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $7,316 Meal plan: $4,506	Room/dormitory: $4,800 Meal plan: $4,350
Available payment plans	Tuition payment plan	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	82.0% Average amount $10,882	89.0% Average amount $5,662
Students receiving federal student loan	14.0% Average amount $4,779	65.0% Average amount $4,850
Students taking out private loans	1.0% Average amount $12,360	10.0% Average amount $9,043

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	34,496 Men 45.0% Women 55.0%	2,867 Men 40.6% Women 59.4%
Graduate students	5,612 Men 33.0% Women 67.0%	473 Men 26.6% Women 73.4%
Racial/ethnic diversity	Moderate	Very Low
Out-of-state students	1.7%	38.9%
International students	6.0%	2.1%
Campus local/setting	City: Large	Town: Remote
Dormitory capacity	4,029	853
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	California Washington Hawaii Nevada Texas	South Dakota Minnesota North Dakota Iowa Wisconsin

Academics
Popular study areas	Health Professions Engineering Kinesiology & Leisure Studies Public Administration and Social Service Computer and Information Science	Education Biological and Biomedical Sciences Kinesiology & Leisure Studies Business Liberal Arts
Students to faculty ratio	26:1	16:1
Institutional accreditation	Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior Colleges and University Commission	Higher Learning Commission

Outcome
Graduation rate	54.2%	47.6%
Dropout rate	33.7%	25.4%
Transferred out	5.6%	22.9%
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering (Master's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $95,739 Year 3: $108,158 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $89,831 Year 2: $92,124 Year 3: $98,535 Taxation (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $72,745 Year 2: $86,867 Year 3: $97,852 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $83,455 Year 2: $88,907 Year 3: $96,626 Construction Engineering Technologies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $79,863 Year 2: $75,204 Year 3: $92,559 Engineering-Related Fields (Master's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $80,493 Year 3: $92,252 Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $83,281 Year 2: $83,669 Year 3: $89,964 Computer Science (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $64,782 Year 2: $75,047 Year 3: $84,221 Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $68,859 Year 2: $73,070 Year 3: $82,977 Educational Administration and Supervision (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $78,180 Year 2: $76,863 Year 3: $82,194	Biology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $38,289 Year 3: $49,248 Student Counseling and Personnel Services (Master's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $44,021 Year 3: $46,732 Accounting and Related Services (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $45,902 Year 2: $42,682 Year 3: $46,239 Curriculum and Instruction (Master's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $43,575 Year 3: $45,796 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $38,996 Year 2: $40,728 Year 3: $45,442 Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $39,033 Year 2: $39,523 Year 3: $39,953 Health and Physical Education/Fitness (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $32,526 Year 2: $35,060 Year 3: $39,845 Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $39,862 Year 2: $38,289 Year 3: N/A English Language and Literature, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $20,824 Year 3: N/A Health and Physical Education/Fitness (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $38,740 Year 2: $34,526 Year 3: N/A

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