Northwestern College vs Berkeley

Northwestern College and University of California-Berkeley, two esteemed institutions of higher learning, offer distinct educational experiences. Northwestern College, a private Christian liberal arts college in Orange City, Iowa, boasts a tight-knit community and a focus on undergraduate teaching. In contrast, the public research University of California-Berkeley, situated in the vibrant city of Berkeley, California, is renowned for its academic rigor, world-class faculty, and cutting-edge research opportunities. While both institutions provide excellent education, they differ in acceptance rates, popular majors, student body demographics, and graduation rates. Explore the comprehensive comparison table below to discover which institution aligns best with your academic aspirations and personal preferences.

	Northwestern College	University of California-Berkeley
Overview
Location	Orange City, Iowa	Berkeley, California
Campus setting	Town: Distant	City: Midsize
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%	96.0%
Common app member	No	No
Religious affiliation	Protestant

Admission
Acceptance rate	83.0%	14.4%
Application fees		Undergraduate: $70 Graduate: $120
SAT range	940 - 1240	N/A
ACT range	20 - 27	N/A
Students submitting SAT score	8.0%
Students submitting ACT score	82.0%
Total number of applicants	1,172	112,843
Total number of admissions given out	973	16,295
Admitted students who chose to enroll	268	6,931
Yield rate	27.5%	42.5%
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: $37,920 Out of state: $67,674
Average net price	$24,848	$17,652
Tuition	$33,350	In state: $11,442 Out of state: $41,196
Room & board	$10,000	$20,236
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	52.0% Average amount $21,406
Students receiving federal student loan	69.0% Average amount $5,257	15.0% Average amount $4,586
Students taking out private loans	21.0% Average amount $10,813	6.0% Average amount $7,122

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	1,053 Men 48.7% Women 51.3%	31,814 Men 45.4% Women 54.6%
Graduate students	460 Men 24.3% Women 75.7%	13,222 Men 51.7% Women 48.3%
Racial/ethnic diversity	Very Low	Moderate
Out-of-state students	N/A	16.9%
International students	2.2%	18.0%
Campus local/setting	Town: Distant	City: Midsize
Dormitory capacity	995	9,630
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	N/A	California New Jersey Texas Virginia New York

Academics
Popular study areas	Education Health Professions Biological and Biomedical Sciences Business Visual & Performing Arts	Engineering Business Computer and Information Science Legal Profession Health Professions
Students to faculty ratio	12:1	20:1
Institutional accreditation	Higher Learning Commission	Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior Colleges and University Commission

Outcome
Graduation rate	70.8%	92.8%
Dropout rate	6.5%	6.3%
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	Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $171,936 Year 3: $191,597 Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering (Master's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $122,038 Year 3: $167,052 Computer Science (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $125,250 Year 2: $125,388 Year 3: $161,399 Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $126,367 Year 2: $128,868 Year 3: $160,666 Law (First Professional Degrees) Year 1: $160,390 Year 2: $142,470 Year 3: $143,984 Information Science/Studies (Master's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $119,358 Year 3: $143,516 Chemistry (Doctoral Degrees) Year 1: $107,442 Year 2: $63,005 Year 3: $112,973 Optometry (First Professional Degrees) Year 1: $74,750 Year 2: $91,363 Year 3: $104,601 Mechanical Engineering (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $95,600 Year 2: $85,760 Year 3: $103,738 Applied Mathematics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $71,282 Year 2: $65,387 Year 3: $102,543

Compare Similar Colleges

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Northwestern College vs Berkeley

Northwestern College

University of California-Berkeley

Overview

Admission

Tuition and Fees

Financial Aid

Students and Campus

Academics

Outcome

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