Washington State University (WSU) vs Idaho State

Washington State University (WSU) and Idaho State University (ISU) are two prominent public universities located in the Pacific Northwest, each offering a unique educational experience. WSU, situated in Pullman, Washington, boasts a larger student body and a higher acceptance rate compared to ISU in Pocatello, Idaho. While both universities offer a diverse range of academic programs, WSU excels in agriculture, engineering, and veterinary medicine, while ISU is renowned for its programs in pharmacy, nursing, and physical therapy. Explore the detailed comparison table below to delve into further distinctions between these two institutions, including student demographics, graduation rates, and additional factors that may influence your higher education journey.

	Idaho State University	Washington State University
Overview
Location	Pocatello, Idaho	Pullman, Washington
Campus setting	City: Small	Town: Distant
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	65.0%	81.0%
Common app member	No	Yes
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	Open Admission	85.8%
Application fees	Undergraduate: $50 Graduate: $65	Undergraduate: $50 Graduate: $75
SAT range	N/A	N/A
ACT range	N/A	N/A
Students submitting SAT score
Students submitting ACT score
Total number of applicants		18,197
Total number of admissions given out		15,607
Admitted students who chose to enroll		4,007
Yield rate		25.7%
Test scores (SAT/ACT)		N/A
High school GPA	N/A	Required
Recommendation letters	N/A	Not required
High school transcript	N/A	Not required
English proficiency test (e.g. TOEFL)	N/A	Required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	In state: $23,172 Out of state: $40,626	In state: $28,767 Out of state: $44,083
Average net price	$13,012	$11,877
Tuition	In state: $5,928 Out of state: $23,382	In state: $10,457 Out of state: $25,773
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $2,950 Meal plan: $4,390	Room/dormitory: $7,400 Meal plan: $4,350
Available payment plans	Guaranteed tuition plan Tuition payment plan	Prepaid tuition plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	86.0% Average amount $8,089	86.0% Average amount $9,993
Students receiving federal student loan	36.0% Average amount $4,829	27.0% Average amount $5,042
Students taking out private loans	2.0% Average amount $9,511	3.0% Average amount $15,454

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	9,818 Men 41.1% Women 58.9%	24,278 Men 45.9% Women 54.1%
Graduate students	2,317 Men 39.0% Women 61.0%	5,565 Men 44.7% Women 55.3%
Racial/ethnic diversity	Low	Low
Out-of-state students	8.9%	15.2%
International students	1.8%	5.7%
Campus local/setting	City: Small	Town: Distant
Dormitory capacity	1,213	7,043
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	Idaho California Utah Washington Wyoming	Washington California Oregon Idaho Hawaii

Academics
Popular study areas	Health Professions Business Liberal Arts Education Engineering Technologies	Business Engineering Social Sciences Health Professions Education
Students to faculty ratio	13:1	15:1
Institutional accreditation	Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities	Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities

Outcome
Graduation rate	39.1%	59.5%
Dropout rate	36.1%	38.1%
Transferred out	19.7%	N/A
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Administration (First Professional Degrees) Year 1: $107,409 Year 2: $124,909 Year 3: $126,262 Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $109,657 Year 2: $103,424 Year 3: $112,338 Communication Disorders Sciences and Services (Doctoral Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $77,213 Year 3: $77,745 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $62,905 Year 2: $61,516 Year 3: $77,011 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Graduate/Professional Certificates) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $71,957 Year 3: $74,473 Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions (Doctoral Degrees) Year 1: $69,546 Year 2: $71,202 Year 3: $74,340 Mechanical Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $58,126 Year 2: $55,964 Year 3: $69,853 Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $63,021 Year 2: $71,015 Year 3: $64,966 Electromechanical Instrumentation and Maintenance Technologies/Technicians (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $59,309 Year 2: $63,005 Year 3: $64,676 Environmental Control Technologies/Technicians (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: N/A Year 3: $62,273	Educational Administration and Supervision (Doctoral Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $135,393 Year 3: $143,888 Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Administration (First Professional Degrees) Year 1: $110,911 Year 2: $123,178 Year 3: $127,531 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $90,080 Year 2: $100,915 Year 3: $120,737 Engineering-Related Fields (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $111,957 Year 2: $112,073 Year 3: $119,910 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Doctoral Degrees) Year 1: $106,275 Year 2: $105,813 Year 3: $117,478 Veterinary Medicine (First Professional Degrees) Year 1: $82,971 Year 2: N/A Year 3: $96,760 Educational Administration and Supervision (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $76,468 Year 2: $69,338 Year 3: $88,746 Computer Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $80,693 Year 2: $75,204 Year 3: $81,535 Computer Science (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $73,112 Year 2: $68,808 Year 3: $80,939 Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $69,531 Year 2: $72,881 Year 3: $79,650

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