Pierce College vs Highline College

Pierce College District and Highline College, both esteemed institutions in the Pacific Northwest, offer diverse educational opportunities to students seeking higher learning. Pierce College District boasts an acceptance rate of 100%, welcoming all applicants with open arms, while Highline College maintains a slightly more selective approach with an acceptance rate of 98%. When it comes to popular majors, Pierce College District excels in Liberal Arts and Humanities, while Highline College shines in Business, Management, Marketing, and Related Support Services. Both colleges cater to a diverse student body, with Pierce College District's student population comprising 49% female and 51% male, and Highline College's student body consisting of 53% female and 47% male. While Pierce College District boasts a higher graduation rate of 31%, Highline College follows closely behind with a respectable graduation rate of 28%. To help you make an informed decision about your educational journey, we've compiled a comprehensive comparison

	Highline College	Pierce College District
Overview
Location	Des Moines, Washington	Lakewood, Washington
Campus setting	Suburb: Large	City: Small
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Public	Public
Calendar system	Quarter	Quarter
Degrees offered	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
Students retention rate
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: $20,334 Out of state: $20,803	In state: $19,576 Out of state: $20,038
Average net price	$9,882	$7,370
Tuition	$3,445	In state: $3,825 Out of state: $4,287
Room & board
Available payment plans	Tuition payment plan	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	35.0% Average amount $5,583	36.0% Average amount $6,255
Students receiving federal student loan	2.0% Average amount $5,614	11.0% Average amount $5,614
Students taking out private loans	0.0% Average amount $7,202	0.0% Average amount $1,760

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	4,951 Men 37.4% Women 62.6%	7,363 Men 35.7% Women 64.3%
Graduate students	N/A	N/A
Racial/ethnic diversity	Moderate	Moderate
Out-of-state students	2.7%	3.3%
International students	3.7%	1.8%
Campus local/setting	Suburb: Large	City: Small
Dormitory capacity	160	60
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	Washington Hawaii Oregon Alaska Arkansas	Washington California Hawaii Florida Georgia

Academics
Popular study areas	Liberal Arts Health Professions Business Education Physical Science	Liberal Arts Business Health Professions Law Enforcement and Firefighting Education
Students to faculty ratio	10:1	22:1
Institutional accreditation	Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities	Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities

Outcome
Graduation rate	35.8%	37.1%
Dropout rate	35.3%	37.4%
Transferred out	21.3%	18.6%
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $69,653 Year 2: $64,493 Year 3: $69,747 Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $43,154 Year 2: $40,438 Year 3: $40,844 Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $30,948 Year 2: $28,960 Year 3: $40,192 Mental and Social Health Services and Allied Professions (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $31,974 Year 3: $35,459	Dental Support Services and Allied Professions (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $74,576 Year 3: $62,687 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $47,260 Year 3: $55,767 Business/Commerce, General (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $29,685 Year 3: $47,345 Computer Systems Networking and Telecommunications (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $38,289 Year 3: $41,029 Health and Medical Administrative Services (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $30,771 Year 3: $32,496 Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $22,356 Year 2: $25,405 Year 3: $29,533 Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $25,194 Year 3: $26,935 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $32,569 Year 3: N/A

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