Pacific Northwest College of Art vs NorthWestern

Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA) and Northwestern University (NU) are two distinct institutions offering diverse educational experiences. PNCA, a private art and design college, stands out with a remarkably low acceptance rate of 75%, fostering a close-knit community among its 480 undergraduate students. In contrast, NU, a prestigious private research university, boasts a highly selective admissions process, accepting only 8% of applicants. With over 8,000 undergraduates, NU offers a broader range of academic programs, including popular majors like Economics, Computer Science, and Political Science. While PNCA excels in Art and Design, NU's strengths lie in fields such as Engineering, Business, and Communication. Explore the detailed comparison table below to discover more distinctions between these institutions, including graduation rates, student demographics, and additional program offerings, to help you make an informed decision about your higher education journey.

	Northwestern University	Pacific Northwest College of Art
Overview
Location	Evanston, Illinois	Portland, Oregon
Campus setting	City: Small	City: Large
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Private (Non Profit)	Private (Non Profit)
Calendar system	Quarter	Semester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate and Graduate	Undergraduate and Graduate
Students retention rate	99.0%	59.0%
Common app member	Yes	Yes
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	7.0%	97.5%
Application fees	Undergraduate: $75 Graduate: $95	$65
SAT range	1470 - 1570	N/A
ACT range	34 - 35	N/A
Students submitting SAT score	43.0%
Students submitting ACT score	39.0%
Total number of applicants	47,636	364
Total number of admissions given out	3,321	355
Admitted students who chose to enroll	2,086	64
Yield rate	62.8%	18.0%
Test scores (SAT/ACT)	N/A	N/A
High school GPA	Not required	Required
Recommendation letters	Required	Not required
High school transcript	Not required	Not required
English proficiency test (e.g. TOEFL)	Required	Required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	$83,838	$63,974
Average net price	$29,999	$36,405
Tuition	$60,276	$41,768
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $11,271 Meal plan: $6,993
Available payment plans	Tuition payment plan	Prepaid tuition plan Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	57.0% Average amount $51,087	99.0% Average amount $22,027
Students receiving federal student loan	23.0% Average amount $4,625	70.0% Average amount $5,333
Students taking out private loans	2.0% Average amount $38,595	6.0% Average amount $18,860

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	8,847 Men 46.1% Women 53.9%	397 Men 29.0% Women 71.0%
Graduate students	14,562 Men 47.3% Women 52.7%	84 Men 20.2% Women 79.8%
Racial/ethnic diversity	Moderate	Low
Out-of-state students	N/A	N/A
International students	17.8%	4.2%
Campus local/setting	City: Small	City: Large
Dormitory capacity	4,409	130
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	N/A	N/A

Academics
Popular study areas	Business Communication and Journalism Engineering Health Professions Legal Profession	Visual & Performing Arts Multidisciplinary Studies English Language and Literature
Students to faculty ratio	6:1	10:1
Institutional accreditation	Higher Learning Commission	Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities

Outcome
Graduation rate	95.2%	35.7%
Dropout rate	4.2%	62.9%
Transferred out	N/A	N/A
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Medical Clinical Sciences/Graduate Medical Studies (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $150,242 Year 2: $188,472 Year 3: $221,242 Business/Commerce, General (First Professional Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $188,472 Year 3: $216,176 Law (First Professional Degrees) Year 1: $187,194 Year 2: $170,971 Year 3: $206,288 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $120,709 Year 2: $189,565 Year 3: $194,961 Business/Commerce, General (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $162,478 Year 2: $163,561 Year 3: $177,652 Engineering-Related Fields (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $111,200 Year 2: $157,779 Year 3: $159,304 Engineering, Other (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $140,321 Year 2: $141,586 Year 3: $154,556 Medical Illustration and Informatics (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $88,288 Year 2: $118,465 Year 3: $132,325 Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $118,780 Year 2: $111,323 Year 3: $130,124 Community Organization and Advocacy (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $115,760 Year 2: $113,668 Year 3: $128,046	Design and Applied Arts (Master's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $25,658 Year 3: $39,482 Design and Applied Arts (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $20,535 Year 2: $27,494 Year 3: $31,458 Fine and Studio Arts (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $24,540 Year 2: $32,029 Year 3: $30,660 Fine and Studio Arts (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $25,687 Year 2: $19,835 Year 3: $27,584 Cultural Studies/Critical Theory and Analysis (Master's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $27,765 Year 3: N/A

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