Washington State University (WSU) vs Northern Arizona University (NAU)

Washington State University (WSU) and Northern Arizona University (NAU) are two public universities located in the western United States, each offering a unique educational experience. WSU, situated in Pullman, Washington, boasts a larger student body and a higher acceptance rate compared to NAU in Flagstaff, Arizona. While both universities offer a wide range of academic programs, WSU excels in engineering, agriculture, and veterinary medicine, while NAU is renowned for its programs in forestry, environmental science, and hospitality. 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 choice of higher education.

	Northern Arizona University	Washington State University
Overview
Location	Flagstaff, Arizona	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	74.0%	81.0%
Common app member	No	Yes
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	78.4%	85.8%
Application fees	Undergraduate: $25 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	42,872	18,197
Total number of admissions given out	33,592	15,607
Admitted students who chose to enroll	5,297	4,007
Yield rate	15.8%	25.7%
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: $28,430 Out of state: $43,176	In state: $28,767 Out of state: $44,083
Average net price	$16,059	$11,877
Tuition	In state: $10,650 Out of state: $25,396	In state: $10,457 Out of state: $25,773
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $6,000 Meal plan: $5,338	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)	97.0% Average amount $12,922	86.0% Average amount $9,993
Students receiving federal student loan	34.0% Average amount $5,314	27.0% Average amount $5,042
Students taking out private loans	4.0% Average amount $13,306	3.0% Average amount $15,454

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	24,162 Men 37.0% Women 63.0%	24,278 Men 45.9% Women 54.1%
Graduate students	4,549 Men 32.1% Women 67.9%	5,565 Men 44.7% Women 55.3%
Racial/ethnic diversity	Low	Low
Out-of-state students	31.9%	15.2%
International students	2.2%	5.7%
Campus local/setting	City: Small	Town: Distant
Dormitory capacity	9,853	7,043
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	Arizona California Colorado Nevada New Mexico	Washington California Oregon Idaho Hawaii

Academics
Popular study areas	Education Health Professions Business Engineering Public Administration and Social Service	Business Engineering Social Sciences Health Professions Education
Students to faculty ratio	21:1	15:1
Institutional accreditation	Higher Learning Commission	Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities

Outcome
Graduation rate	59.0%	59.5%
Dropout rate	40.0%	38.1%
Transferred out	N/A	N/A
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $94,560 Year 2: $101,406 Year 3: $108,112 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $100,716 Year 2: $92,632 Year 3: $96,135 Educational Administration and Supervision (Doctoral Degrees) Year 1: $80,374 Year 2: $79,081 Year 3: $89,768 Computer Science (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $69,244 Year 2: $76,117 Year 3: $81,532 Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $67,225 Year 2: $74,890 Year 3: $79,106 Construction Management (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $67,718 Year 2: $68,219 Year 3: $75,432 Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions (Doctoral Degrees) Year 1: $71,725 Year 2: $71,183 Year 3: $71,928 Mechanical Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $58,840 Year 2: $59,350 Year 3: $70,793 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $58,911 Year 2: $65,042 Year 3: $70,433 Civil Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $62,712 Year 2: $54,252 Year 3: $68,199	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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