West Valley College (WVC) vs San Mateo College

West Valley College and College of San Mateo, both esteemed community colleges in California, offer diverse educational opportunities to students. West Valley College, located in Saratoga, boasts an acceptance rate of 100%, welcoming all aspiring learners. College of San Mateo, situated in San Mateo, has a slightly more selective admissions process, with an acceptance rate of 98%. While both institutions offer a wide range of programs, West Valley College is renowned for its strong offerings in the arts, humanities, and social sciences, while College of San Mateo excels in STEM fields and healthcare. Explore the detailed comparison table below to delve into further distinctions between these two exceptional colleges, including student body demographics, graduation rates, and popular majors, to help you make an informed decision about your academic journey.

	College of San Mateo	West Valley College
Overview
Location	San Mateo, California	Saratoga, California
Campus setting	City: Midsize	Suburb: Large
College type	2 year	2 year
Control/business model	Public	Public
Calendar system	Semester	Semester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
Students retention rate	78.0%	77.0%
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: $29,201 Out of state: $37,875	In state: $21,146 Out of state: $30,356
Average net price	$5,427	$6,890
Tuition	In state: $1,364 Out of state: $10,016	In state: $1,380 Out of state: $10,590
Room & board
Available payment plans		Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	54.0% Average amount $5,763	75.0% Average amount $4,172
Students receiving federal student loan	0.0% Average amount $3,464	0.0% Average amount $2,413
Students taking out private loans	0.0% Average amount $0	0.0% Average amount $0

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	6,894 Men 49.0% Women 51.0%	6,717 Men 43.9% Women 56.1%
Graduate students	N/A	N/A
Racial/ethnic diversity	Moderate	Moderate
Out-of-state students	0.2%	0.4%
International students	4.5%	0.6%
Campus local/setting	City: Midsize	Suburb: Large
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	California Utah	California Connecticut Georgia North Carolina Texas

Academics
Popular study areas	Social Sciences Business Communication and Journalism Law Enforcement and Firefighting Psychology	Liberal Arts Social Sciences Business Communication and Journalism Visual & Performing Arts
Students to faculty ratio	18:1	17:1
Institutional accreditation	Western Association of Schools and Colleges Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges	Western Association of Schools and Colleges Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges

Outcome
Graduation rate	41.1%	41.4%
Dropout rate	38.4%	30.3%
Transferred out	11.9%	11.4%
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $56,787 Year 2: $74,576 Year 3: $98,961 Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: N/A Year 3: $45,672 Cosmetology and Related Personal Grooming Services (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $22,420 Year 3: N/A Criminal Justice and Corrections (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $46,478 Year 3: N/A	Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $34,585 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A

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.