RI College vs Salem State

Rhode Island College and Salem State University, both public institutions with rich histories, offer distinct educational experiences. Rhode Island College, located in Providence, Rhode Island, boasts a higher acceptance rate (79%) compared to Salem State University's 69%. Salem State University, situated in Salem, Massachusetts, has a slightly larger student body, with over 10,000 undergraduate students compared to Rhode Island College's 8,000. While both universities offer a diverse range of majors, Salem State University excels in fields like nursing, education, and social work, while Rhode Island College is known for its strengths in business, psychology, and communication. Explore the detailed comparison table to discover more about these institutions' graduation rates, student demographics, and other key factors that can help you make an informed decision about your higher education journey.

	Rhode Island College	Salem State University
Overview
Location	Providence, Rhode Island	Salem, Massachusetts
Campus setting	Suburb: Large	Suburb: Large
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	74.0%	75.0%
Common app member	Yes	Yes
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	84.8%	90.0%
Application fees	Undergraduate: $50 Graduate: $50	Undergraduate: $50 Graduate: $50
SAT range	N/A	N/A
ACT range	N/A	N/A
Students submitting SAT score
Students submitting ACT score
Total number of applicants	3,592	6,287
Total number of admissions given out	3,047	5,659
Admitted students who chose to enroll	609	939
Yield rate	20.0%	16.6%
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	In state: $28,456 Out of state: $43,654	In state: $27,123 Out of state: $33,928
Average net price	$8,710	$18,125
Tuition	In state: $9,277 Out of state: $24,475	In state: $910 Out of state: $7,050
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $7,354 Meal plan: $5,722	$14,590
Available payment plans	Tuition payment plan	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	100.0% Average amount $5,118	91.0% Average amount $7,673
Students receiving federal student loan	53.0% Average amount $4,737	67.0% Average amount $4,984
Students taking out private loans	9.0% Average amount $10,448	10.0% Average amount $12,948

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	5,252 Men 31.0% Women 69.0%	5,555 Men 34.5% Women 65.5%
Graduate students	1,079 Men 21.2% Women 78.8%	1,576 Men 21.8% Women 78.2%
Racial/ethnic diversity	Low	Low
Out-of-state students	20.5%	N/A
International students	0.2%	2.5%
Campus local/setting	Suburb: Large	Suburb: Large
Dormitory capacity	1,100	1,928
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	Rhode Island Mississippi Connecticut New York New Jersey	New York New Hampshire Connecticut Rhode Island Vermont

Academics
Popular study areas	Health Professions Education Public Administration and Social Service Psychology Business	Education Health Professions Business Public Administration and Social Service Biological and Biomedical Sciences
Students to faculty ratio	13:1	13:1
Institutional accreditation	New England Commission on Higher Education	New England Commission on Higher Education

Outcome
Graduation rate	45.7%	56.8%
Dropout rate	49.4%	40.8%
Transferred out	N/A	N/A
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Computer and Information Sciences, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $65,797 Year 3: $75,271 Accounting and Related Services (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $57,220 Year 2: $65,387 Year 3: $69,382 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $62,911 Year 2: $65,610 Year 3: $67,782 Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $56,461 Year 2: $53,775 Year 3: $65,793 Special Education and Teaching (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $53,896 Year 2: $52,941 Year 3: $60,044 Finance and Financial Management Services (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $43,330 Year 2: $52,607 Year 3: $56,197 Social Work (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $48,253 Year 2: $48,864 Year 3: $54,502 Biology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $35,907 Year 2: $36,131 Year 3: $51,790 Accounting and Related Services (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $42,172 Year 2: $49,019 Year 3: $51,342 Management Information Systems and Services (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $43,715 Year 2: $47,729 Year 3: $51,157	Computer and Information Sciences, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $50,461 Year 2: $67,660 Year 3: $81,500 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $68,690 Year 2: $69,261 Year 3: $74,129 Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $61,511 Year 2: $63,005 Year 3: $69,206 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $90,183 Year 2: $71,854 Year 3: $64,195 Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $59,356 Year 2: $59,124 Year 3: $61,164 Special Education and Teaching (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $47,191 Year 2: $54,855 Year 3: $59,882 Social Work (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $50,049 Year 2: $50,606 Year 3: $53,563 Clinical, Counseling and Applied Psychology (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $48,859 Year 2: $48,302 Year 3: $52,492 Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $47,960 Year 2: $47,729 Year 3: $51,920 Chemistry (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $43,346 Year 2: $45,696 Year 3: $51,685

Compare Similar Colleges

The list of suggested college comparisons provided below is generated automatically by our system, utilizing statistics gathered from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and various online sources. If you don't find the colleges you wish to compare, please visit our comparison page. There, you can search for the specific colleges and initiate your comparison.