Vanderbilt vs UC Davis

Vanderbilt University and University of California-Davis, two esteemed institutions of higher learning, offer distinct educational experiences. Vanderbilt, a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, boasts a lower acceptance rate (10.3%) compared to UC Davis's 41.3%. Both universities excel in various disciplines, with Vanderbilt excelling in fields like engineering, music, and medicine, while UC Davis is renowned for its programs in agriculture, biological sciences, and veterinary medicine. Their student bodies reflect their diverse locations, with Vanderbilt's predominantly undergraduate population hailing from across the nation and UC Davis's larger student body drawing from California and beyond. While Vanderbilt boasts a slightly higher graduation rate (89%) than UC Davis (86%), both universities are committed to providing their students with the knowledge and skills necessary for success in their chosen fields. Explore the detailed comparison table to discover more about these two exceptional universities and determine which one aligns best with your academic aspirations and personal preferences.

	University of California-Davis	Vanderbilt University
Overview
Location	Davis, California	Nashville, Tennessee
Campus setting	Suburb: Small	City: Large
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Public	Private (Non Profit)
Calendar system	Quarter	Semester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate and Graduate	Undergraduate and Graduate
Students retention rate	91.0%	97.0%
Common app member	No	Yes
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	48.8%	7.1%
Application fees	Undergraduate: $70 Graduate: $120	Undergraduate: $50 Graduate: $95
SAT range	N/A	1480 - 1570
ACT range	N/A	34 - 35
Students submitting SAT score		25.0%
Students submitting ACT score		32.0%
Total number of applicants	87,120	47,152
Total number of admissions given out	42,475	3,368
Admitted students who chose to enroll	7,482	1,626
Yield rate	17.6%	48.3%
Test scores (SAT/ACT)	N/A	N/A
High school GPA	Required	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: $32,584 Out of state: $62,338	$79,538
Average net price	$16,640	$27,553
Tuition	In state: $11,442 Out of state: $41,196	$54,840
Room & board	$17,018	Room/dormitory: $12,000 Meal plan: $6,376
Available payment plans	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	59.0% Average amount $17,628	64.0% Average amount $49,730
Students receiving federal student loan	23.0% Average amount $4,043	10.0% Average amount $4,979
Students taking out private loans	11.0% Average amount $3,360	2.0% Average amount $27,798

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	31,657 Men 39.8% Women 60.2%	7,111 Men 48.9% Women 51.1%
Graduate students	8,393 Men 43.8% Women 56.2%	6,685 Men 39.5% Women 60.5%
Racial/ethnic diversity	Moderate	Moderate
Out-of-state students	7.5%	89.5%
International students	17.0%	11.7%
Campus local/setting	Suburb: Small	City: Large
Dormitory capacity	11,142	5,598
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	Yes
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	California Washington Illinois Texas Hawaii	Tennessee California New York Florida Texas

Academics
Popular study areas	Biological and Biomedical Sciences Business Agriculture Engineering Family and Consumer Sciences	Health Professions Education Engineering Business Legal Profession
Students to faculty ratio	21:1	8:1
Institutional accreditation	Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior Colleges and University Commission	Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges

Outcome
Graduation rate	86.9%	93.4%
Dropout rate	11.8%	6.4%
Transferred out	N/A	N/A
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Health Professions and Related Clinical Sciences, Other (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $121,903 Year 2: $135,393 Year 3: $137,917 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $127,500 Year 2: $125,015 Year 3: $135,009 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $106,299 Year 2: $116,258 Year 3: $127,335 Computer and Information Sciences, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $76,488 Year 2: $81,609 Year 3: $103,694 Veterinary Biomedical and Clinical Sciences (First Professional Degrees) Year 1: $80,669 Year 2: N/A Year 3: $100,961 Educational Administration and Supervision (Doctoral Degrees) Year 1: $112,976 Year 2: $98,186 Year 3: $99,585 Computer Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $81,487 Year 2: $82,440 Year 3: $98,364 Mechanical Engineering (Master's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $87,604 Year 3: $94,032 Engineering, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $74,487 Year 2: $70,370 Year 3: $89,594 Law (First Professional Degrees) Year 1: $73,514 Year 2: $74,262 Year 3: $87,586	Medical Clinical Sciences/Graduate Medical Studies (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $101,041 Year 2: $122,038 Year 3: $169,145 Health and Medical Administrative Services (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $129,825 Year 2: $130,517 Year 3: $144,008 Finance and Financial Management Services (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $131,102 Year 2: $117,572 Year 3: $133,025 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $128,494 Year 2: $127,087 Year 3: $132,454 Law (First Professional Degrees) Year 1: $132,293 Year 2: $114,324 Year 3: $130,516 Marketing (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $108,764 Year 2: $111,620 Year 3: $121,754 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (First Professional Degrees) Year 1: $126,876 Year 2: $119,805 Year 3: $112,193 Educational Administration and Supervision (Doctoral Degrees) Year 1: $91,224 Year 2: $104,192 Year 3: $108,525 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $99,979 Year 2: $93,249 Year 3: $101,010 Mathematics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $76,609 Year 2: $80,309 Year 3: $95,754

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