CWU-Ellensburg vs Idaho State

Central Washington University (CWU) and Idaho State University (ISU) are two public universities located in the Pacific Northwest, offering a wide range of academic programs and opportunities. CWU, situated in Ellensburg, Washington, boasts a smaller student body and a higher acceptance rate compared to ISU in Pocatello, Idaho. While both universities offer diverse academic programs, CWU excels in fields like education, business, and nursing, while ISU is known for its strengths in engineering, health sciences, and pharmacy. Explore the detailed comparison table below to delve into further distinctions between these two institutions, including student demographics, graduation rates, and additional factors that may influence your decision in choosing the best fit for your academic and personal goals.

	Central Washington University	Idaho State University
Overview
Location	Ellensburg, Washington	Pocatello, Idaho
Campus setting	Town: Distant	City: Small
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Public	Public
Calendar system	Quarter	Semester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate and Graduate	Undergraduate and Graduate
Students retention rate	69.0%	65.0%
Common app member	Yes	No
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	88.4%	Open Admission
Application fees	Undergraduate: $60 Graduate: $75	Undergraduate: $50 Graduate: $65
SAT range	N/A	N/A
ACT range	N/A	N/A
Students submitting SAT score
Students submitting ACT score
Total number of applicants	10,767
Total number of admissions given out	9,523
Admitted students who chose to enroll	1,371
Yield rate	14.4%
Test scores (SAT/ACT)	N/A
High school GPA	Required	N/A
Recommendation letters	Not required	N/A
High school transcript	Not required	N/A
English proficiency test (e.g. TOEFL)	Not required	N/A

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	In state: $22,248 Out of state: $38,776	In state: $23,172 Out of state: $40,626
Average net price	$17,645	$13,012
Tuition	In state: $6,656 Out of state: $23,184	In state: $5,928 Out of state: $23,382
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $7,645 Meal plan: $7,957	Room/dormitory: $2,950 Meal plan: $4,390
Available payment plans	Prepaid tuition plan Tuition payment plan	Guaranteed tuition plan Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	80.0% Average amount $7,378	86.0% Average amount $8,089
Students receiving federal student loan	41.0% Average amount $4,834	36.0% Average amount $4,829
Students taking out private loans	2.0% Average amount $14,197	2.0% Average amount $9,511

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	9,566 Men 47.0% Women 53.0%	9,818 Men 41.1% Women 58.9%
Graduate students	610 Men 37.4% Women 62.6%	2,317 Men 39.0% Women 61.0%
Racial/ethnic diversity	Moderate	Low
Out-of-state students	6.7%	8.9%
International students	2.7%	1.8%
Campus local/setting	Town: Distant	City: Small
Dormitory capacity	3,755	1,213
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	Washington California Oregon Hawaii Arkansas	Idaho California Utah Washington Wyoming

Academics
Popular study areas	Education Business Social Sciences Health Professions Visual & Performing Arts	Health Professions Business Liberal Arts Education Engineering Technologies
Students to faculty ratio	15:1	13:1
Institutional accreditation	Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities	Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities

Outcome
Graduation rate	53.6%	39.1%
Dropout rate	44.0%	36.1%
Transferred out	N/A	19.7%
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Electrical Engineering Technologies/Technicians (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $72,482 Year 3: $86,230 Construction Management (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $73,538 Year 2: $71,168 Year 3: $82,194 Quality Control and Safety Technologies/Technicians (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $68,024 Year 2: $65,486 Year 3: $79,944 Educational Administration and Supervision (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $58,531 Year 2: $61,020 Year 3: $77,665 Computer Science (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $63,052 Year 2: $52,941 Year 3: $69,645 Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $59,580 Year 2: $56,979 Year 3: $69,564 Accounting and Related Services (Master's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $55,151 Year 3: $62,577 Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $44,170 Year 3: $61,531 Economics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $38,008 Year 2: $39,369 Year 3: $58,391 Health and Physical Education/Fitness (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $47,842 Year 2: $50,606 Year 3: $58,240	Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Administration (First Professional Degrees) Year 1: $107,409 Year 2: $124,909 Year 3: $126,262 Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $109,657 Year 2: $103,424 Year 3: $112,338 Communication Disorders Sciences and Services (Doctoral Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $77,213 Year 3: $77,745 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $62,905 Year 2: $61,516 Year 3: $77,011 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Graduate/Professional Certificates) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $71,957 Year 3: $74,473 Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions (Doctoral Degrees) Year 1: $69,546 Year 2: $71,202 Year 3: $74,340 Mechanical Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $58,126 Year 2: $55,964 Year 3: $69,853 Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $63,021 Year 2: $71,015 Year 3: $64,966 Electromechanical Instrumentation and Maintenance Technologies/Technicians (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $59,309 Year 2: $63,005 Year 3: $64,676 Environmental Control Technologies/Technicians (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: N/A Year 3: $62,273

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.

CWU-Ellensburg vs Idaho State

Central Washington University

Idaho State University

Overview

Admission

Tuition and Fees

Financial Aid

Students and Campus

Academics

Outcome

Compare Similar Colleges

Find Colleges By State

Resources

About