Southern Union State Community College vs Northwest-Shoals Community College

Southern Union State Community College and Northwest-Shoals Community College, both esteemed institutions of higher learning in Alabama, offer unique educational experiences tailored to diverse student aspirations. Southern Union, with an acceptance rate of 100%, welcomes all qualified applicants, while Northwest-Shoals maintains a slightly more selective admissions process with an acceptance rate of 98%. While both colleges offer a wide range of academic programs, Southern Union excels in the fields of Business, Management, Marketing, and Related Support Services, while Northwest-Shoals specializes in Health Professions and Related Programs. Southern Union boasts a diverse student body, with 53% female and 47% male students, while Northwest-Shoals has a slightly higher female-to-male ratio of 57% to 43%. With graduation rates of 17% and 22% respectively, both colleges are committed to providing students with the necessary support and resources to achieve their academic goals. Explore the comprehensive comparison table below

	Northwest-Shoals Community College	Southern Union State Community College
Overview
Location	Muscle Shoals, Alabama	Wadley, Alabama
Campus setting	City: Small	Rural: Remote
College type	2 year	2 year
Control/business model	Public	Public
Calendar system	Semester	Semester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
Students retention rate	65.0%	66.0%
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: $16,301 Out of state: $19,991	In state: $18,010 Out of state: $21,700
Average net price	$3,493	$9,066
Tuition	In state: $3,690 Out of state: $7,380	In state: $3,690 Out of state: $7,380
Room & board		Room/dormitory: $1,160 Meal plan: $2,040
Available payment plans	Prepaid tuition plan Tuition payment plan	Prepaid tuition plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	95.0% Average amount $5,952	71.0% Average amount $7,708
Students receiving federal student loan	24.0% Average amount $2,779	22.0% Average amount $4,983
Students taking out private loans	0.0% Average amount $0	2.0% Average amount $5,746

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	3,371 Men 43.1% Women 56.9%	4,069 Men 43.6% Women 56.4%
Graduate students	N/A	N/A
Racial/ethnic diversity	Low	Low
Out-of-state students	1.5%	8.3%
International students	0.6%	1.1%
Campus local/setting	City: Small	Rural: Remote
Dormitory capacity	N/A	460
First year students are required to live on campus?	N/A	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	Alabama Tennessee Illinois	Alabama Georgia Florida Texas California

Academics
Popular study areas	Liberal Arts Precision Production Health Professions Construction Trades Engineering Technologies	Liberal Arts Health Professions Automotive Technology Engineering Technologies Precision Production
Students to faculty ratio	17:1	18:1
Institutional accreditation	Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges	Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges

Outcome
Graduation rate	26.0%	16.4%
Dropout rate	39.1%	34.4%
Transferred out	21.9%	44.0%
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $44,933 Year 2: $43,922 Year 3: $43,540 Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $19,388 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $21,522 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A	Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $53,094 Year 2: $48,752 Year 3: $52,602 Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $34,891 Year 2: $33,007 Year 3: $40,013 Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $21,818 Year 2: $19,891 Year 3: $27,722 Cosmetology and Related Personal Grooming Services (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $18,219 Year 2: $15,552 Year 3: N/A Human Development, Family Studies, and Related Services (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $16,786 Year 3: N/A Heavy/Industrial Equipment Maintenance Technologies (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $48,041 Year 3: N/A Precision Metal Working (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $42,682 Year 3: N/A Practical Nursing, Vocational Nursing and Nursing Assistants (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $30,409 Year 3: N/A Business Operations Support and Assistant Services (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $22,420 Year 3: N/A

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