Western Carolina University (WCU) vs Southern Utah University (SUU)

Western Carolina University (WCU) and Southern Utah University (SUU) are two distinct institutions of higher learning, each offering unique opportunities and experiences to their students. WCU, nestled in the picturesque mountains of Cullowhee, North Carolina, boasts a higher acceptance rate (78%) compared to SUU's 86%. Both universities offer a diverse range of academic programs, with popular majors such as Business, Education, and Health Sciences at WCU, and Business, Health Professions, and Engineering at SUU. While WCU's student body is predominantly female (58%), SUU's student population is more evenly distributed between genders. Additionally, WCU has a slightly higher graduation rate (62%) compared to SUU's 58%. To help you make an informed decision about your higher education journey, we have compiled a comprehensive comparison table that delves into these aspects and more. Explore the table to discover which university aligns best with your academic aspirations and

	Southern Utah University	Western Carolina University
Overview
Location	Cedar City, Utah	Cullowhee, North Carolina
Campus setting	Town: Remote	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	73.0%	75.0%
Common app member	No	Yes
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	88.7%	79.4%
Application fees		Undergraduate: $65 Graduate: $65
SAT range	1030 - 1240	1060 - 1230
ACT range	20 - 26	19 - 25
Students submitting SAT score	4.0%	12.0%
Students submitting ACT score	81.0%	43.0%
Total number of applicants	17,209	12,308
Total number of admissions given out	15,269	9,775
Admitted students who chose to enroll	2,564	1,729
Yield rate	16.8%	17.7%
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: $20,626 Out of state: $34,442	In state: $19,349 Out of state: $23,349
Average net price	$12,372	$13,082
Tuition	In state: $6,006 Out of state: $19,822	In state: $1,000 Out of state: $5,000
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $3,350 Meal plan: $4,150	Room/dormitory: $6,403 Meal plan: $5,029
Available payment plans	Tuition payment plan	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	90.0% Average amount $9,899	73.0% Average amount $5,772
Students receiving federal student loan	66.0% Average amount $5,494	56.0% Average amount $4,850
Students taking out private loans	2.0% Average amount $21,408	9.0% Average amount $9,396

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	12,080 Men 40.4% Women 59.6%	10,145 Men 43.6% Women 56.4%
Graduate students	1,531 Men 46.7% Women 53.3%	1,732 Men 32.1% Women 67.9%
Racial/ethnic diversity	Very Low	Very Low
Out-of-state students	25.3%	17.7%
International students	3.9%	1.7%
Campus local/setting	Town: Remote	Town: Distant
Dormitory capacity	1,004	3,815
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	Utah Nevada California Arizona Texas	North Carolina South Carolina Georgia Florida Tennessee

Academics
Popular study areas	Education Liberal Arts Business Visual & Performing Arts Health Professions	Health Professions Education Business Public Administration and Social Service Engineering Technologies
Students to faculty ratio	23:1	15:1
Institutional accreditation	Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities	Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges

Outcome
Graduation rate	54.7%	61.4%
Dropout rate	42.1%	10.2%
Transferred out	N/A	27.5%
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Computer Science (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $52,107 Year 3: $75,943 Accounting and Related Services (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $56,352 Year 2: $59,042 Year 3: $65,535 Education, General (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $58,251 Year 2: $59,320 Year 3: $63,725 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $51,826 Year 2: $53,108 Year 3: $57,687 Engineering Technology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $51,273 Year 3: $53,525 Public Administration (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $45,740 Year 2: $50,439 Year 3: $53,227 Computer and Information Sciences, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $47,260 Year 3: $53,187 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $65,254 Year 2: $52,107 Year 3: $50,515 Marketing (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $41,565 Year 3: $46,765 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $37,792 Year 2: $42,682 Year 3: $44,213	Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $97,321 Year 2: $103,913 Year 3: $103,661 Human Resources Management and Services (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $55,207 Year 2: $64,990 Year 3: $72,372 Computer Science (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $54,769 Year 2: $53,775 Year 3: $72,367 Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions (Doctoral Degrees) Year 1: $65,460 Year 2: $67,324 Year 3: $68,635 Construction Engineering Technologies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $57,202 Year 2: $58,221 Year 3: $64,334 Engineering Technology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $57,173 Year 2: $54,996 Year 3: $63,171 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $64,798 Year 2: $55,286 Year 3: $61,637 Accounting and Related Services (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $53,571 Year 2: $55,512 Year 3: $59,030 Educational Administration and Supervision (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $55,835 Year 2: $52,107 Year 3: $58,930 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $58,362 Year 2: $57,318 Year 3: $57,003

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.