Northwestern College vs The Pennsylvania State University (PSU)

Northwestern College and The Pennsylvania State University, two distinct institutions of higher learning, offer unique educational experiences to prospective students. Northwestern College, a private Christian liberal arts college in Orange City, Iowa, boasts a tight-knit community and a focus on undergraduate education. In contrast, The Pennsylvania State University, a public research university with multiple campuses across Pennsylvania, offers a wide range of academic programs and opportunities for graduate studies. While both institutions provide quality education, they differ in acceptance rates, popular majors, student body demographics, and graduation rates. Explore the comprehensive comparison table below to discover which university aligns best with your academic aspirations and personal preferences.

	Northwestern College	The Pennsylvania State University
Overview
Location	Orange City, Iowa	University Park, Pennsylvania
Campus setting	Town: Distant	City: Small
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Private (Non Profit)	Public
Calendar system	Semester	Semester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate and Graduate	Undergraduate and Graduate
Students retention rate	83.0%	87.0%
Common app member	No	Yes
Religious affiliation	Protestant

Admission
Acceptance rate	83.0%	92.3%
Application fees		Undergraduate: $65 Graduate: $65
SAT range	940 - 1240	1140 - 1360
ACT range	20 - 27	25 - 31
Students submitting SAT score	8.0%	32.0%
Students submitting ACT score	82.0%	6.0%
Total number of applicants	1,172	96,686
Total number of admissions given out	973	89,207
Admitted students who chose to enroll	268	16,049
Yield rate	27.5%	18.0%
Test scores (SAT/ACT)	N/A	N/A
High school GPA	Not required	Required
Recommendation letters	Not required	Not required
High school transcript	Not required	Not required
English proficiency test (e.g. TOEFL)	Required	Required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	$47,650	In state: $38,270 Out of state: $55,848
Average net price	$24,848	$24,012
Tuition	$33,350	In state: $18,368 Out of state: $35,946
Room & board	$10,000	Room/dormitory: $7,360 Meal plan: $5,618
Available payment plans	Prepaid tuition plan Tuition payment plan	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	100.0% Average amount $21,873	51.0% Average amount $9,884
Students receiving federal student loan	69.0% Average amount $5,257	49.0% Average amount $5,305
Students taking out private loans	21.0% Average amount $10,813	13.0% Average amount $19,837

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	1,053 Men 48.7% Women 51.3%	73,476 Men 53.7% Women 46.3%
Graduate students	460 Men 24.3% Women 75.7%	15,438 Men 51.7% Women 48.3%
Racial/ethnic diversity	Very Low	Low
Out-of-state students	N/A	34.1%
International students	2.2%	10.5%
Campus local/setting	Town: Distant	City: Small
Dormitory capacity	995	20,547
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	N/A	Pennsylvania New Jersey New York Maryland Virginia

Academics
Popular study areas	Education Health Professions Biological and Biomedical Sciences Business Visual & Performing Arts	Business Engineering Computer and Information Science Health Professions Social Sciences
Students to faculty ratio	12:1	15:1
Institutional accreditation	Higher Learning Commission	Middle States Commission on Higher Education

Outcome
Graduation rate	70.8%	72.3%
Dropout rate	6.5%	25.7%
Transferred out	22.7%	N/A
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Educational Administration and Supervision (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $55,719 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $37,017 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $49,993 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Biology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $20,925 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Health and Physical Education/Fitness (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $33,080 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $59,227 Year 2: $61,516 Year 3: N/A Business Administration, Management and Operations (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $38,185 Year 2: $41,193 Year 3: N/A	Information Science/Studies (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $109,295 Year 2: $120,549 Year 3: $125,527 Computer and Information Sciences, General (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $99,798 Year 2: $95,930 Year 3: $120,289 Computer Engineering (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $100,190 Year 2: $97,959 Year 3: $113,544 Mining and Mineral Engineering (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $98,403 Year 3: $108,754 Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $100,372 Year 2: $100,455 Year 3: $107,874 Systems Engineering (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $96,574 Year 2: $99,291 Year 3: $104,370 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $95,304 Year 2: $97,855 Year 3: $104,056 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $92,512 Year 2: $94,864 Year 3: $103,461 Management Information Systems and Services (Master's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $92,632 Year 3: $98,201 Nuclear Engineering (Master's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $89,155 Year 3: $94,780

Compare Similar Colleges

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