Southern Utah University (SUU) vs Western Colorado University

Southern Utah University (SUU) and Western Colorado University (WCU) are two public universities located in the scenic Western United States. While both institutions offer a wide range of academic programs and opportunities, there are some key differences between them. SUU has a higher acceptance rate (86%) compared to WCU (78%), making it a more accessible option for students. SUU also boasts a larger student body, with over 10,000 undergraduate students enrolled, while WCU has a more intimate community with around 2,500 undergraduate students. In terms of popular majors, SUU excels in fields such as Business, Education, and Health Professions, while WCU is known for its strengths in Liberal Arts, Natural Sciences, and Outdoor Recreation. Additionally, SUU has a slightly higher graduation rate (58%) compared to WCU (54%). To help you make an informed decision about your higher education journey, we have compiled a comprehensive comparison table that

	Southern Utah University	Western Colorado University
Overview
Location	Cedar City, Utah	Gunnison, Colorado
Campus setting	Town: Remote	Town: Remote
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	73.0%	74.0%
Common app member	No	Yes
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	88.7%	90.9%
Application fees		Undergraduate: $30 Graduate: $50
SAT range	1030 - 1240	1040 - 1230
ACT range	20 - 26	21 - 26
Students submitting SAT score	4.0%	37.0%
Students submitting ACT score	81.0%	11.0%
Total number of applicants	17,209	3,243
Total number of admissions given out	15,269	2,947
Admitted students who chose to enroll	2,564	456
Yield rate	16.8%	15.5%
Test scores (SAT/ACT)	N/A	N/A
High school GPA	Required	Not required
Recommendation letters	Not 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: $20,626 Out of state: $34,442	In state: $26,956 Out of state: $38,740
Average net price	$12,372	$17,490
Tuition	In state: $6,006 Out of state: $19,822	In state: $6,816 Out of state: $18,600
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $3,350 Meal plan: $4,150	Room/dormitory: $5,200 Meal plan: $4,790
Available payment plans	Tuition payment plan	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	90.0% Average amount $9,899	87.0% Average amount $8,085
Students receiving federal student loan	66.0% Average amount $5,494	56.0% Average amount $4,669
Students taking out private loans	2.0% Average amount $21,408	7.0% Average amount $12,501

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	12,080 Men 40.4% Women 59.6%	3,241 Men 51.4% Women 48.6%
Graduate students	1,531 Men 46.7% Women 53.3%	448 Men 31.2% Women 68.8%
Racial/ethnic diversity	Very Low	Low
Out-of-state students	25.3%	34.9%
International students	3.9%	0.3%
Campus local/setting	Town: Remote	Town: Remote
Dormitory capacity	1,004	1,241
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	Utah Nevada California Arizona Texas	Colorado Texas California Alaska Illinois

Academics
Popular study areas	Education Liberal Arts Business Visual & Performing Arts Health Professions	Education Kinesiology & Leisure Studies Natural Resources and Conservation Business Social Sciences
Students to faculty ratio	23:1	18:1
Institutional accreditation	Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities	Higher Learning Commission

Outcome
Graduation rate	54.7%	47.6%
Dropout rate	42.1%	32.8%
Transferred out	N/A	17.2%
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Computer Science (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $52,107 Year 3: $75,943 Accounting and Related Services (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $56,352 Year 2: $59,042 Year 3: $65,535 Education, General (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $58,251 Year 2: $59,320 Year 3: $63,725 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $51,826 Year 2: $53,108 Year 3: $57,687 Engineering Technology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $51,273 Year 3: $53,525 Public Administration (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $45,740 Year 2: $50,439 Year 3: $53,227 Computer and Information Sciences, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $47,260 Year 3: $53,187 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $65,254 Year 2: $52,107 Year 3: $50,515 Marketing (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $41,565 Year 3: $46,765 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $37,792 Year 2: $42,682 Year 3: $44,213	Accounting and Related Services (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $46,087 Year 3: $50,432 Natural Resources Conservation and Research (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $29,076 Year 2: $40,365 Year 3: $45,493 Education, General (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $42,272 Year 2: $40,488 Year 3: $43,479 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $40,324 Year 2: $33,281 Year 3: $39,884 Health and Physical Education/Fitness (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $30,326 Year 2: $28,405 Year 3: $39,040 Communication and Media Studies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $28,244 Year 2: $29,685 Year 3: $37,581 Fine and Studio Arts (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $18,798 Year 2: N/A Year 3: $36,678 Business/Commerce, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $39,585 Year 3: $35,898 Biology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $26,963 Year 2: $27,947 Year 3: $35,691 Psychology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $23,793 Year 2: $27,874 Year 3: $34,114

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