Northwest-Shoals Community College vs Mountain Empire Community College (MECC)

Northwest-Shoals Community College and Mountain Empire Community College, both esteemed institutions of higher learning, offer unique educational experiences tailored to diverse student aspirations. Northwest-Shoals, with its open admissions policy, welcomes a broader range of students, while Mountain Empire's selective admissions process ensures a highly competitive academic environment. While Northwest-Shoals boasts a higher acceptance rate, Mountain Empire's rigorous curriculum attracts students seeking a challenging academic journey. Explore the detailed comparison table to delve into further distinctions, including popular majors, student demographics, and graduation rates, to identify the institution that best aligns with your academic goals and aspirations.

	Mountain Empire Community College	Northwest-Shoals Community College
Overview
Location	Big Stone Gap, Virginia	Muscle Shoals, Alabama
Campus setting	Town: Distant	City: Small
College type	2 year	2 year
Control/business model	Public	Public
Calendar system	Semester	Semester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
Students retention rate	68.0%	65.0%
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: $14,385 Out of state: $20,388	In state: $16,301 Out of state: $19,991
Average net price	$8,803	$3,493
Tuition	In state: $4,620 Out of state: $9,918	In state: $3,690 Out of state: $7,380
Room & board
Available payment plans	Tuition payment plan	Prepaid tuition plan Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	98.0% Average amount $5,590	95.0% Average amount $5,952
Students receiving federal student loan	0.0% Average amount $0	24.0% Average amount $2,779
Students taking out private loans	1.0% Average amount $3,006	0.0% Average amount $0

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	2,079 Men 37.3% Women 62.7%	3,371 Men 43.1% Women 56.9%
Graduate students	N/A	N/A
Racial/ethnic diversity	Very Low	Low
Out-of-state students	1.0%	1.5%
International students	0.1%	0.6%
Campus local/setting	Town: Distant	City: Small
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 Tennessee	Alabama Tennessee Illinois

Academics
Popular study areas	Health Professions Liberal Arts Engineering Technologies Law Enforcement and Firefighting Construction Trades	Liberal Arts Precision Production Health Professions Construction Trades Engineering Technologies
Students to faculty ratio	19:1	17:1
Institutional accreditation	Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges	Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges

Outcome
Graduation rate	44.1%	26.0%
Dropout rate	45.6%	39.1%
Transferred out	3.7%	21.9%
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	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	Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $44,933 Year 2: $43,922 Year 3: $43,540 Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $19,388 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $21,522 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A

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Northwest-Shoals Community College vs Mountain Empire Community College (MECC)

Mountain Empire Community College

Northwest-Shoals Community College

Overview

Admission

Tuition and Fees

Financial Aid

Students and Campus

Academics

Outcome

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