Salem State vs Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU)

Salem State University and Southern New Hampshire University, both esteemed institutions of higher learning, offer distinct educational experiences. Salem State, rooted in a public liberal arts tradition, boasts a lower acceptance rate and a smaller student body, fostering a close-knit community. Southern New Hampshire, on the other hand, is a private university with a higher acceptance rate and a larger, more diverse student population. While both universities offer a wide range of undergraduate and graduate programs, Salem State excels in fields like education, nursing, and social work, while Southern New Hampshire shines in business, engineering, and computer science. Explore the detailed comparison table below to delve into further distinctions, including graduation rates, tuition costs, and campus life, to determine which university best aligns with your academic aspirations and personal preferences.

	Salem State University	Southern New Hampshire University
Overview
Location	Salem, Massachusetts	Manchester, New Hampshire
Campus setting	Suburb: Large	Suburb: Midsize
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Public	Private (Non Profit)
Calendar system	Semester	Semester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate and Graduate	Undergraduate and Graduate
Students retention rate	75.0%	62.0%
Common app member	Yes	Yes
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	90.0%	92.1%
Application fees	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	6,287	27,953
Total number of admissions given out	5,659	25,736
Admitted students who chose to enroll	939	10,607
Yield rate	16.6%	41.2%
Test scores (SAT/ACT)	N/A	N/A
High school GPA	Required	Required
Recommendation letters	Not required	Required
High school transcript	Not required	Not required
English proficiency test (e.g. TOEFL)	Required	Required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	In state: $27,123 Out of state: $33,928	$38,518
Average net price	$18,125	$21,502
Tuition	In state: $910 Out of state: $7,050	$15,000
Room & board	$14,590	Room/dormitory: $8,000 Meal plan: $4,200
Available payment plans	Tuition payment plan	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	91.0% Average amount $7,673	79.0% Average amount $6,006
Students receiving federal student loan	67.0% Average amount $4,984	50.0% Average amount $5,176
Students taking out private loans	10.0% Average amount $12,948	0.0% Average amount $7,258

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	5,555 Men 34.5% Women 65.5%	121,884 Men 36.8% Women 63.2%
Graduate students	1,576 Men 21.8% Women 78.2%	23,649 Men 31.9% Women 68.1%
Racial/ethnic diversity	Low	Low
Out-of-state students	N/A	93.2%
International students	2.5%	0.6%
Campus local/setting	Suburb: Large	Suburb: Midsize
Dormitory capacity	1,928	1,934
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	New York New Hampshire Connecticut Rhode Island Vermont	Texas New Hampshire Pennsylvania California Georgia

Academics
Popular study areas	Education Health Professions Business Public Administration and Social Service Biological and Biomedical Sciences	Business Health Professions Psychology Liberal Arts Computer and Information Science
Students to faculty ratio	13:1	24:1
Institutional accreditation	New England Commission on Higher Education	New England Commission on Higher Education

Outcome
Graduation rate	56.8%	39.1%
Dropout rate	40.8%	34.5%
Transferred out	N/A	24.7%
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	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	Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $75,875 Year 2: $83,177 Year 3: $94,544 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $72,753 Year 2: $73,898 Year 3: $77,504 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $67,717 Year 2: $69,218 Year 3: $76,866 Finance and Financial Management Services (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $67,435 Year 2: $68,219 Year 3: $72,152 Educational Administration and Supervision (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $54,002 Year 2: $61,218 Year 3: $69,749 Computer and Information Sciences, General (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $64,617 Year 2: $65,734 Year 3: $68,411 Economics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $51,193 Year 2: $60,320 Year 3: $68,398 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Graduate/Professional Certificates) Year 1: $52,944 Year 2: $61,516 Year 3: $65,098 Accounting and Related Services (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $61,847 Year 2: $58,622 Year 3: $63,145 Human Resources Management and Services (Graduate/Professional Certificates) Year 1: $54,435 Year 2: $61,516 Year 3: $61,662

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.

Salem State

University of Colorado Colorado Springs