West Virginia Northern Community College (WVNCC) vs Mountain Empire Community College (MECC)

West Virginia Northern Community College and Mountain Empire Community College, both esteemed institutions of higher learning, offer unique educational experiences tailored to diverse student aspirations. While they share a commitment to academic excellence, they differ in several key aspects. West Virginia Northern boasts a higher acceptance rate, welcoming a broader range of students, while Mountain Empire maintains a more selective admissions process. In terms of academic offerings, West Virginia Northern excels in programs like Business Administration and Management, while Mountain Empire shines in fields such as Health Professions and Related Programs. Furthermore, the student body demographics vary, with West Virginia Northern catering to a larger proportion of female students and Mountain Empire attracting a more balanced gender ratio. As for graduation rates, Mountain Empire holds a slight edge, indicating a strong focus on student success and completion. Explore the comprehensive comparison table below to delve deeper into these distinctions and discover which college aligns best with your academic goals and preferences.

	Mountain Empire Community College	West Virginia Northern Community College
Overview
Location	Big Stone Gap, Virginia	Wheeling, West Virginia
Campus setting	Town: Distant	City: Small
College type	2 year	2 year
Control/business model	Public	Public
Calendar system	Semester	Semester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
Students retention rate	68.0%	52.0%
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: $14,385 Out of state: $20,388	In state: $13,260 Out of state: $20,988
Average net price	$8,803	$4,398
Tuition	In state: $4,620 Out of state: $9,918	In state: $3,504 Out of state: $11,232
Room & board
Available payment plans	Tuition payment plan	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	98.0% Average amount $5,590	100.0% Average amount $5,746
Students receiving federal student loan	0.0% Average amount $0	15.0% Average amount $2,868
Students taking out private loans	1.0% Average amount $3,006	0.0% Average amount $0

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	2,079 Men 37.3% Women 62.7%	1,099 Men 35.9% Women 64.1%
Graduate students	N/A	N/A
Racial/ethnic diversity	Very Low	Very Low
Out-of-state students	1.0%	N/A
International students	0.1%	0.5%
Campus local/setting	Town: Distant	City: Small
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	Virginia Tennessee	N/A

Academics
Popular study areas	Health Professions Liberal Arts Engineering Technologies Law Enforcement and Firefighting Construction Trades	Health Professions Liberal Arts Computer and Information Science Engineering Technologies Business
Students to faculty ratio	19:1	10:1
Institutional accreditation	Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges	Higher Learning Commission

Outcome
Graduation rate	44.1%	30.5%
Dropout rate	45.6%	51.6%
Transferred out	3.7%	12.2%
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $49,999 Year 2: $50,161 Year 3: $52,521 Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $39,541 Year 2: $36,166 Year 3: $41,849 Practical Nursing, Vocational Nursing and Nursing Assistants (Undergraduate Certificates or Diplomas) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $30,771 Year 3: $30,684 Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $15,964 Year 3: $21,826 Mental and Social Health Services and Allied Professions (Undergraduate Certificates or Diplomas) Year 1: $18,788 Year 2: $19,508 Year 3: $21,200 Industrial Production Technologies/Technicians (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $31,719 Year 2: $35,600 Year 3: N/A Criminal Justice and Corrections (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $30,449 Year 2: $20,140 Year 3: N/A Business Operations Support and Assistant Services (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $24,047 Year 2: $20,824 Year 3: N/A	Electromechanical Instrumentation and Maintenance Technologies/Technicians (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $43,665 Year 2: $58,673 Year 3: $58,187 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $52,813 Year 2: $50,677 Year 3: $56,060 Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $30,796 Year 2: $31,567 Year 3: $36,659 Practical Nursing, Vocational Nursing and Nursing Assistants (Undergraduate Certificates or Diplomas) Year 1: $17,810 Year 2: $22,424 Year 3: $25,025 Business/Commerce, General (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $24,110 Year 2: $22,578 Year 3: $22,662 Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $20,095 Year 2: $14,318 Year 3: $21,221 Computer and Information Sciences, General (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $26,833 Year 2: $21,508 Year 3: N/A Social Work (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $20,140 Year 3: N/A Health and Medical Administrative Services (Undergraduate Certificates or Diplomas) Year 1: $24,951 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Health and Medical Administrative Services (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $26,739 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.