Purdue vs Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU)

Purdue University-Main Campus and Virginia Commonwealth University, two distinct institutions of higher learning, offer unique educational experiences to their students. Purdue, a public research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, boasts a lower acceptance rate and a larger student body compared to VCU, a public research university located in the heart of Richmond, Virginia. While both universities offer a diverse range of academic programs, Purdue is renowned for its engineering, technology, and agriculture programs, while VCU excels in the arts, humanities, and health sciences. Explore the detailed comparison table to delve into further differences, including graduation rates, student demographics, and popular majors, to determine which university aligns best with your academic aspirations and personal preferences.

	Purdue University-Main Campus	Virginia Commonwealth University
Overview
Location	West Lafayette, Indiana	Richmond, Virginia
Campus setting	City: Small	City: Midsize
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Public	Public
Calendar system	Semester	Semester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate and Graduate	Undergraduate and Graduate
Students retention rate	91.0%	84.0%
Common app member	Yes	Yes
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	68.8%	92.8%
Application fees	Undergraduate: $60 Graduate: $60	Undergraduate: $70 Graduate: $70
SAT range	1190 - 1430	1070 - 1300
ACT range	26 - 33	20 - 29
Students submitting SAT score	62.0%	29.0%
Students submitting ACT score	31.0%	5.0%
Total number of applicants	59,436	17,579
Total number of admissions given out	40,898	16,308
Admitted students who chose to enroll	10,278	4,084
Yield rate	25.1%	25.0%
Test scores (SAT/ACT)	N/A	N/A
High school GPA	Required	Required
Recommendation letters	Required	Not required
High school transcript	Not required	Not required
English proficiency test (e.g. TOEFL)	Not required	Required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	In state: $22,812 Out of state: $41,614	In state: $36,861 Out of state: $58,199
Average net price	$14,619	$19,656
Tuition	In state: $9,718 Out of state: $28,520	In state: $12,094 Out of state: $32,742
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $4,860 Meal plan: $5,398	Room/dormitory: $6,953 Meal plan: $5,820
Available payment plans	Tuition payment plan	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	68.0% Average amount $7,324	78.0% Average amount $13,623
Students receiving federal student loan	29.0% Average amount $5,101	44.0% Average amount $5,174
Students taking out private loans	7.0% Average amount $18,535	8.0% Average amount $17,903

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	37,806 Men 57.8% Women 42.2%	21,394 Men 36.9% Women 63.1%
Graduate students	12,538 Men 57.5% Women 42.5%	7,200 Men 33.7% Women 66.3%
Racial/ethnic diversity	Low	Moderate
Out-of-state students	51.2%	7.0%
International students	17.8%	3.6%
Campus local/setting	City: Small	City: Midsize
Dormitory capacity	15,597	5,958
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	Indiana Illinois California New Jersey Ohio	Virginia Maryland North Carolina New Jersey Pennsylvania

Academics
Popular study areas	Engineering Business Health Professions Agriculture Education	Health Professions Visual & Performing Arts Business Public Administration and Social Service Multidisciplinary Studies
Students to faculty ratio	14:1	18:1
Institutional accreditation	Higher Learning Commission	Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges

Outcome
Graduation rate	82.7%	67.6%
Dropout rate	16.0%	10.5%
Transferred out	N/A	19.2%
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Administration (First Professional Degrees) Year 1: $86,594 Year 2: $112,363 Year 3: $123,756 Engineering, Other (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $98,166 Year 2: $94,408 Year 3: $110,527 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $91,310 Year 2: $88,342 Year 3: $105,735 Mechanical Engineering (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $91,040 Year 2: $92,632 Year 3: $104,408 Aerospace, Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $91,895 Year 2: $84,653 Year 3: $101,018 Computer Science (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $81,749 Year 2: $85,981 Year 3: $94,727 Veterinary Medicine (First Professional Degrees) Year 1: $84,821 Year 2: N/A Year 3: $89,107 Chemistry (Doctoral Degrees) Year 1: $70,034 Year 2: $63,005 Year 3: $88,209 Computer Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $76,843 Year 2: $72,448 Year 3: $85,950 Industrial Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $70,780 Year 2: $70,057 Year 3: $79,694	Advanced/Graduate Dentistry and Oral Sciences (Master's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $234,763 Year 3: $225,432 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Doctoral Degrees) Year 1: $166,030 Year 2: $181,454 Year 3: $181,915 Dentistry (First Professional Degrees) Year 1: $87,586 Year 2: $106,935 Year 3: $134,578 Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Administration (First Professional Degrees) Year 1: $101,582 Year 2: $119,256 Year 3: $121,903 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $94,371 Year 2: $93,178 Year 3: $105,544 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $94,094 Year 2: $93,467 Year 3: $97,893 Information Science/Studies (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $100,759 Year 2: $86,867 Year 3: $94,244 Health and Medical Administrative Services (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $73,726 Year 2: $82,440 Year 3: $90,664 Educational Administration and Supervision (Doctoral Degrees) Year 1: $77,993 Year 2: $89,305 Year 3: $82,470 Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $70,920 Year 2: $69,338 Year 3: $82,210

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Purdue vs Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU)

Purdue University-Main Campus

Virginia Commonwealth University

Overview

Admission

Tuition and Fees

Financial Aid

Students and Campus

Academics

Outcome

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