Tidewater Community College vs Palo Alto

Tidewater Community College and Palo Alto College, two distinct institutions of higher learning, offer unique educational experiences to students with diverse backgrounds and aspirations. Tidewater, located in Virginia, boasts an open admissions policy, welcoming a wide range of students, while Palo Alto, situated in Texas, maintains a selective admissions process, ensuring a highly competitive student body. With Tidewater's focus on associate degrees and certificates and Palo Alto's emphasis on bachelor's degrees, the choice between these colleges hinges on individual academic goals. Explore the comprehensive comparison table to delve into further details, including acceptance rates, popular majors, student body demographics, and graduation rates, to determine which college aligns best with your educational aspirations and personal preferences.

	Palo Alto College	Tidewater Community College
Overview
Location	San Antonio, Texas	Norfolk, Virginia
Campus setting	City: Large	City: Midsize
College type	2 year	2 year
Control/business model	Public	Public
Calendar system	Semester	Semester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
Students retention rate	60.0%	57.0%
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: $21,212 Out of state: $28,742	In state: $24,039 Out of state: $30,042
Average net price	$4,951	$7,292
Tuition	In state: $6,450 Out of state: $13,980	In state: $4,680 Out of state: $9,978
Room & board
Available payment plans	Tuition payment plan	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	89.0% Average amount $4,868	55.0% Average amount $5,785
Students receiving federal student loan	1.0% Average amount $6,413	16.0% Average amount $4,559
Students taking out private loans	0.0% Average amount $0	0.0% Average amount $0

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	10,559 Men 38.1% Women 61.9%	16,797 Men 38.9% Women 61.1%
Graduate students	N/A	N/A
Racial/ethnic diversity	Low	Moderate
Out-of-state students	1.1%	1.6%
International students	0.0%	0.7%
Campus local/setting	City: Large	City: Midsize
Dormitory capacity	N/A	N/A
First year students are required to live on campus?	N/A	N/A
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	Texas Washington Alaska Colorado Missouri	Virginia North Carolina Georgia New York California

Academics
Popular study areas	Liberal Arts Business Education Computer and Information Science Agriculture	Liberal Arts Business Health Professions Social Sciences Multidisciplinary Studies
Students to faculty ratio	32:1	20:1
Institutional accreditation	Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges	Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges

Outcome
Graduation rate	33.0%	26.5%
Dropout rate	44.5%	47.3%
Transferred out	12.2%	14.3%
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: N/A Year 3: $32,158 Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $18,703 Year 2: $24,035 Year 3: $32,109 Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $22,510 Year 2: $11,851 Year 3: $31,972 Health/Medical Preparatory Programs (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $22,163 Year 2: $26,933 Year 3: $29,307 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $27,013 Year 2: $26,933 Year 3: $28,961 Criminal Justice and Corrections (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $27,432 Year 2: $18,087 Year 3: $26,279 Psychology, General (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $16,169 Year 3: $21,146 Veterinary/Animal Health Technologies/Technicians (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $30,119 Year 3: N/A	Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $55,688 Year 2: $51,960 Year 3: $56,086 Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $49,656 Year 2: $50,439 Year 3: $51,424 Funeral Service and Mortuary Science (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $41,121 Year 2: $47,260 Year 3: $49,373 Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $44,245 Year 2: $46,282 Year 3: $48,794 Vehicle Maintenance and Repair Technologies (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $42,438 Year 2: $32,925 Year 3: $45,648 Industrial Production Technologies/Technicians (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $59,969 Year 2: $36,668 Year 3: $43,717 Health and Medical Administrative Services (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $28,813 Year 2: $36,668 Year 3: $38,066 Mental and Social Health Services and Allied Professions (Undergraduate Certificates or Diplomas) Year 1: N/A Year 2: N/A Year 3: $33,902 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $30,357 Year 2: $30,687 Year 3: $33,793 Criminal Justice and Corrections (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $30,901 Year 2: $26,739 Year 3: $33,679

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.

Palo Alto

South Mountain Community College