Western Illinois University (WIU) vs Northern Illinois University (NIU)

Western Illinois University (WIU) and Northern Illinois University (NIU) are two public universities located in Illinois, each offering a unique educational experience. WIU, situated in Macomb, is a smaller institution with an acceptance rate of 86%, while NIU, located in DeKalb, is larger and more selective, with an acceptance rate of 79%. Both universities offer a wide range of undergraduate and graduate programs, with popular majors including Business, Education, and Psychology at WIU, and Business, Engineering, and Health Professions at NIU. WIU's student body is predominantly White (68%) and female (56%), while NIU's student body is more diverse, with a larger proportion of Black (14%) and Hispanic (19%) students, and a more even gender distribution. In terms of graduation rates, NIU has a slightly higher four-year graduation rate (33%) compared to WIU (29%). To help you

	Northern Illinois University	Western Illinois University
Overview
Location	Dekalb, Illinois	Macomb, Illinois
Campus setting	Suburb: Small	Town: Remote
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	67.0%	72.0%
Common app member	Yes	Yes
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	70.4%	72.5%
Application fees	Undergraduate: $40 Graduate: $60	Undergraduate: $30 Graduate: $30
SAT range	N/A	N/A
ACT range	N/A	N/A
Students submitting SAT score
Students submitting ACT score
Total number of applicants	22,602	7,156
Total number of admissions given out	15,922	5,187
Admitted students who chose to enroll	2,285	920
Yield rate	14.4%	17.7%
Test scores (SAT/ACT)	N/A	N/A
High school GPA	Required	Required
Recommendation letters	Not required	Not required
High school transcript	Required	Not required
English proficiency test (e.g. TOEFL)	Required	Required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	$27,218	$29,140
Average net price	$13,265	$11,666
Tuition	$9,606	$9,238
Room & board	$11,098	Room/dormitory: $6,240 Meal plan: $3,952
Available payment plans	Prepaid tuition plan Guaranteed tuition plan Tuition payment plan	Guaranteed tuition plan Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	98.0% Average amount $13,008	94.0% Average amount $13,937
Students receiving federal student loan	58.0% Average amount $5,313	50.0% Average amount $5,417
Students taking out private loans	5.0% Average amount $11,726	5.0% Average amount $9,533

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	11,834 Men 47.1% Women 52.9%	5,394 Men 43.5% Women 56.5%
Graduate students	4,400 Men 40.8% Women 59.2%	2,061 Men 42.9% Women 57.1%
Racial/ethnic diversity	Moderate	Low
Out-of-state students	N/A	9.7%
International students	4.6%	8.8%
Campus local/setting	Suburb: Small	Town: Remote
Dormitory capacity	4,500	3,083
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	N/A	Illinois Iowa Missouri Wisconsin Indiana

Academics
Popular study areas	Education Health Professions Business Engineering Computer and Information Science	Education Business Liberal Arts Kinesiology & Leisure Studies Health Professions
Students to faculty ratio	15:1	13:1
Institutional accreditation	Higher Learning Commission	Higher Learning Commission

Outcome
Graduation rate	50.8%	50.9%
Dropout rate	46.9%	16.5%
Transferred out	N/A	31.2%
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Educational Administration and Supervision (Doctoral Degrees) Year 1: $118,716 Year 2: $98,186 Year 3: $125,726 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $95,047 Year 2: $88,920 Year 3: $96,563 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $91,161 Year 2: $91,587 Year 3: $94,214 Management Information Systems and Services (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $66,013 Year 2: $70,009 Year 3: $76,350 Computer Science (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $74,606 Year 2: $75,204 Year 3: $75,980 Mechanical Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $64,752 Year 2: $64,150 Year 3: $74,168 Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $70,234 Year 2: $66,989 Year 3: $74,151 Psychology, General (Doctoral Degrees) Year 1: $57,535 Year 2: $68,499 Year 3: $73,940 Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions (Doctoral Degrees) Year 1: $70,453 Year 2: $69,151 Year 3: $72,792 Accounting and Related Services (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $63,291 Year 2: $63,685 Year 3: $72,760	Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $59,427 Year 2: $63,166 Year 3: $79,149 Educational Administration and Supervision (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $68,346 Year 2: $81,702 Year 3: $72,457 Engineering Technology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $55,220 Year 2: $60,771 Year 3: $65,823 Accounting and Related Services (Master's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $57,318 Year 3: $64,904 Construction Management (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $51,827 Year 2: $52,941 Year 3: $64,741 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $60,966 Year 2: $58,334 Year 3: $63,350 Communication Disorders Sciences and Services (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $46,154 Year 2: $49,729 Year 3: $54,520 Accounting and Related Services (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $42,063 Year 2: $43,612 Year 3: $53,379 Computer and Information Sciences, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $56,058 Year 2: $48,667 Year 3: $52,271 Educational/Instructional Media Design (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $56,853 Year 2: $52,107 Year 3: $51,827

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