Widener vs Berkeley

Widener University and University of California-Berkeley, two esteemed institutions of higher learning, offer distinct educational experiences. Widener, a private university in Chester, Pennsylvania, boasts a tight-knit community with a focus on personalized attention, while Berkeley, a public research university in California, is renowned for its academic rigor and cutting-edge research opportunities. With acceptance rates of 70% and 17%, respectively, these universities cater to different levels of academic competitiveness. Widener's popular majors include Business, Education, and Nursing, while Berkeley excels in Engineering, Computer Science, and Economics. Explore the comparison table to delve into further details about these universities, including student body demographics, graduation rates, and more, to determine which institution aligns best with your academic aspirations and personal preferences.

	University of California-Berkeley	Widener University
Overview
Location	Berkeley, California	Chester, Pennsylvania
Campus setting	City: Midsize	Suburb: Large
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Public	Private (Non Profit)
Calendar system	Semester	Semester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate and Graduate	Undergraduate and Graduate
Students retention rate	96.0%	85.0%
Common app member	No	Yes
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	14.4%	84.5%
Application fees	Undergraduate: $70 Graduate: $120	$35
SAT range	N/A	1080 - 1275
ACT range	N/A	N/A
Students submitting SAT score		28.0%
Students submitting ACT score
Total number of applicants	112,843	5,719
Total number of admissions given out	16,295	4,834
Admitted students who chose to enroll	6,931	608
Yield rate	42.5%	12.6%
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: $37,920 Out of state: $67,674	$61,748
Average net price	$17,652	$25,343
Tuition	In state: $11,442 Out of state: $41,196	$48,724
Room & board	$20,236	Room/dormitory: $7,748 Meal plan: $7,060
Available payment plans	Tuition payment plan	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	52.0% Average amount $21,406	100.0% Average amount $32,036
Students receiving federal student loan	15.0% Average amount $4,586	75.0% Average amount $5,440
Students taking out private loans	6.0% Average amount $7,122	24.0% Average amount $12,154

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	31,814 Men 45.4% Women 54.6%	2,766 Men 41.9% Women 58.1%
Graduate students	13,222 Men 51.7% Women 48.3%	3,109 Men 28.1% Women 71.9%
Racial/ethnic diversity	Moderate	Low
Out-of-state students	16.9%	40.5%
International students	18.0%	2.0%
Campus local/setting	City: Midsize	Suburb: Large
Dormitory capacity	9,630	1,400
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	California New Jersey Texas Virginia New York	Pennsylvania New Jersey Maryland Delaware New York

Academics
Popular study areas	Engineering Business Computer and Information Science Legal Profession Health Professions	Health Professions Legal Profession Public Administration and Social Service Business Psychology
Students to faculty ratio	20:1	12:1
Institutional accreditation	Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior Colleges and University Commission	Middle States Commission on Higher Education

Outcome
Graduation rate	92.8%	68.4%
Dropout rate	6.3%	7.7%
Transferred out	N/A	23.5%
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $171,936 Year 3: $191,597 Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering (Master's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $122,038 Year 3: $167,052 Computer Science (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $125,250 Year 2: $125,388 Year 3: $161,399 Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $126,367 Year 2: $128,868 Year 3: $160,666 Law (First Professional Degrees) Year 1: $160,390 Year 2: $142,470 Year 3: $143,984 Information Science/Studies (Master's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $119,358 Year 3: $143,516 Chemistry (Doctoral Degrees) Year 1: $107,442 Year 2: $63,005 Year 3: $112,973 Optometry (First Professional Degrees) Year 1: $74,750 Year 2: $91,363 Year 3: $104,601 Mechanical Engineering (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $95,600 Year 2: $85,760 Year 3: $103,738 Applied Mathematics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $71,282 Year 2: $65,387 Year 3: $102,543	Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $68,072 Year 2: $69,023 Year 3: $78,834 Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions (Doctoral Degrees) Year 1: $70,872 Year 2: $72,274 Year 3: $77,715 Chemical Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $56,994 Year 2: $67,660 Year 3: $74,855 Business/Commerce, General (Master's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $71,854 Year 3: $74,433 Clinical, Counseling and Applied Psychology (Doctoral Degrees) Year 1: $49,168 Year 2: $50,606 Year 3: $72,346 Mechanical Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $64,959 Year 2: $63,275 Year 3: $70,157 Legal Research and Advanced Professional Studies (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $90,088 Year 2: $60,320 Year 3: $69,444 Law (First Professional Degrees) Year 1: $50,960 Year 2: $55,632 Year 3: $65,158 Biology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $34,724 Year 2: $38,829 Year 3: $63,971 Civil Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $60,130 Year 2: $59,640 Year 3: $63,186

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