Western Washington University (WWU) vs Oregon State

Western Washington University and Oregon State University, both esteemed institutions in the Pacific Northwest, offer distinct educational experiences. Western, nestled in Bellingham, Washington, boasts a smaller student body, with an acceptance rate of 84% and a focus on undergraduate education. Oregon State, located in Corvallis, Oregon, is larger and more research-intensive, with an acceptance rate of 78% and a diverse range of graduate programs. While both universities excel in various fields, Western is renowned for its environmental science and education programs, while Oregon State shines in engineering, forestry, and agriculture. Explore the detailed comparison table to discover more about these universities' unique strengths, student demographics, graduation rates, and other key factors that will help you make an informed decision about your academic journey.

	Oregon State University	Western Washington University
Overview
Location	Corvallis, Oregon	Bellingham, Washington
Campus setting	City: Small	City: Small
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Public	Public
Calendar system	Quarter	Quarter
Degrees offered	Undergraduate and Graduate	Undergraduate and Graduate
Students retention rate	87.0%	81.0%
Common app member	Yes	Yes
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	89.2%	96.1%
Application fees	Undergraduate: $65 Graduate: $75	Undergraduate: $65 Graduate: $100
SAT range	1120 - 1370	1090 - 1310
ACT range	21 - 28	22 - 29
Students submitting SAT score	25.0%	16.0%
Students submitting ACT score	13.0%	3.0%
Total number of applicants	23,188	10,580
Total number of admissions given out	20,687	10,167
Admitted students who chose to enroll	3,965	2,874
Yield rate	19.2%	28.3%
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: $29,393 Out of state: $48,784	In state: $26,634 Out of state: $43,861
Average net price	$20,318	$11,388
Tuition	In state: $10,065 Out of state: $29,456	In state: $7,572 Out of state: $24,799
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $10,260 Meal plan: $4,500	$13,079
Available payment plans		Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	87.0% Average amount $9,156	82.0% Average amount $7,112
Students receiving federal student loan	28.0% Average amount $4,944	29.0% Average amount $4,929
Students taking out private loans	4.0% Average amount $18,709	3.0% Average amount $15,435

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	27,564 Men 52.0% Women 48.0%	14,019 Men 42.6% Women 57.4%
Graduate students	5,629 Men 46.2% Women 53.8%	1,106 Men 36.4% Women 63.6%
Racial/ethnic diversity	Low	Low
Out-of-state students	35.8%	N/A
International students	7.6%	1.0%
Campus local/setting	City: Small	City: Small
Dormitory capacity	5,055	3,985
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	Oregon California Washington Hawaii Colorado	N/A

Academics
Popular study areas	Engineering Education Natural Resources and Conservation Biological and Biomedical Sciences Health Professions	Education Psychology Business Multidisciplinary Studies Kinesiology & Leisure Studies
Students to faculty ratio	18:1	17:1
Institutional accreditation	Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities	Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities

Outcome
Graduation rate	68.2%	67.7%
Dropout rate	10.0%	30.6%
Transferred out	18.9%	N/A
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Administration (First Professional Degrees) Year 1: $114,696 Year 2: $124,122 Year 3: $129,702 Education, General (Doctoral Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $82,440 Year 3: $105,213 Mechanical Engineering (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $87,539 Year 2: $78,719 Year 3: $92,424 Veterinary Medicine (First Professional Degrees) Year 1: $79,421 Year 2: N/A Year 3: $87,236 Computer Science (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $74,600 Year 2: $73,446 Year 3: $84,460 Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $70,654 Year 2: $73,035 Year 3: $83,827 Construction Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $73,542 Year 2: $71,295 Year 3: $81,840 Industrial Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $65,943 Year 2: $67,420 Year 3: $76,191 Mechanical Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $66,476 Year 2: $62,863 Year 3: $76,134 Manufacturing Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $69,338 Year 3: $75,733	Computer and Information Sciences, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $69,837 Year 2: $81,333 Year 3: $92,019 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $71,492 Year 2: $76,460 Year 3: $78,577 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $60,314 Year 2: $63,005 Year 3: $76,877 Management Information Systems and Services (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $52,624 Year 2: $57,318 Year 3: $71,599 Communication Disorders Sciences and Services (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $61,592 Year 2: $60,920 Year 3: $64,540 Industrial Production Technologies/Technicians (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $60,325 Year 3: $64,302 Accounting and Related Services (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $46,243 Year 2: $49,572 Year 3: $60,999 Chemistry (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $34,788 Year 2: $37,748 Year 3: $58,090 Design and Applied Arts (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $39,818 Year 2: $46,087 Year 3: $57,268 Finance and Financial Management Services (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $41,065 Year 2: $45,696 Year 3: $57,167

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.

Oregon State

University of Alaska Fairbanks