Harvard vs NorthWestern

Harvard University and Northwestern University, two prestigious institutions of higher learning, offer distinct educational experiences to their students. Harvard, with an acceptance rate of 4.5%, is highly selective, while Northwestern, with an acceptance rate of 9.1%, is moderately selective. Both universities boast strong academic programs, with popular majors in fields such as social sciences, engineering, and business. Harvard's student body is more diverse, with 50.4% female and 49.6% male students, while Northwestern's student body is slightly less diverse, with 52.4% female and 47.6% male students. Harvard's graduation rate is 97%, while Northwestern's is 93%. To help you make an informed decision about which university is the right fit for you, we have compiled a comprehensive comparison table that delves into these and other key differences between Harvard and Northwestern.

	Harvard University	Northwestern University
Overview
Location	Cambridge, Massachusetts	Evanston, Illinois
Campus setting	City: Midsize	City: Small
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Private (Non Profit)	Private (Non Profit)
Calendar system	Semester	Quarter
Degrees offered	Undergraduate and Graduate	Undergraduate and Graduate
Students retention rate	96.0%	99.0%
Common app member	Yes	Yes
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	4.0%	7.0%
Application fees	Undergraduate: $75 Graduate: $105	Undergraduate: $75 Graduate: $95
SAT range	1480 - 1580	1470 - 1570
ACT range	33 - 36	34 - 35
Students submitting SAT score	54.0%	43.0%
Students submitting ACT score	31.0%	39.0%
Total number of applicants	57,786	47,636
Total number of admissions given out	2,318	3,321
Admitted students who chose to enroll	1,951	2,086
Yield rate	84.2%	62.8%
Test scores (SAT/ACT)	N/A	N/A
High school GPA	Not required	Not required
Recommendation letters	Required	Required
High school transcript	Not required	Not required
English proficiency test (e.g. TOEFL)	Not required	Required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	$78,028	$83,838
Average net price	$13,910	$29,999
Tuition	$51,143	$60,276
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $11,705 Meal plan: $7,236	Room/dormitory: $11,271 Meal plan: $6,993
Available payment plans	Prepaid tuition plan Tuition payment plan	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	56.0% Average amount $59,840	57.0% Average amount $51,087
Students receiving federal student loan	3.0% Average amount $5,180	23.0% Average amount $4,625
Students taking out private loans	2.0% Average amount $8,080	2.0% Average amount $38,595

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	9,579 Men 49.0% Women 51.0%	8,847 Men 46.1% Women 53.9%
Graduate students	21,766 Men 46.3% Women 53.7%	14,562 Men 47.3% Women 52.7%
Racial/ethnic diversity	Moderate	Moderate
Out-of-state students	N/A	N/A
International students	23.9%	17.8%
Campus local/setting	City: Midsize	City: Small
Dormitory capacity	12,874	4,409
First year students are required to live on campus?	Yes	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	New York California Texas Illinois New Jersey	N/A

Academics
Popular study areas	Business Health Professions Social Sciences Education Legal Profession	Business Communication and Journalism Engineering Health Professions Legal Profession
Students to faculty ratio	7:1	6:1
Institutional accreditation	New England Commission on Higher Education	Higher Learning Commission

Outcome
Graduation rate	96.7%	95.2%
Dropout rate	2.0%	4.2%
Transferred out	N/A	N/A
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Statistics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $78,193 Year 2: $128,716 Year 3: $240,408 Law (First Professional Degrees) Year 1: $184,307 Year 2: $165,340 Year 3: $199,043 Business Administration, Management and Operations (First Professional Degrees) Year 1: $171,333 Year 2: $171,907 Year 3: $187,553 Computer Science (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $140,072 Year 2: $128,737 Year 3: $163,896 Advanced/Graduate Dentistry and Oral Sciences (Graduate/Professional Certificates) Year 1: $151,371 Year 2: $174,023 Year 3: $163,512 Public Health (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $123,508 Year 2: $117,916 Year 3: $129,281 Ecology, Evolution, Systematics, and Population Biology (Master's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $106,421 Year 3: $121,832 Applied Mathematics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $102,707 Year 2: $90,856 Year 3: $121,771 Education, General (Doctoral Degrees) Year 1: $97,905 Year 2: $98,670 Year 3: $107,389 Dentistry (First Professional Degrees) Year 1: $68,745 Year 2: $71,486 Year 3: $106,375	Medical Clinical Sciences/Graduate Medical Studies (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $150,242 Year 2: $188,472 Year 3: $221,242 Business/Commerce, General (First Professional Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $188,472 Year 3: $216,176 Law (First Professional Degrees) Year 1: $187,194 Year 2: $170,971 Year 3: $206,288 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $120,709 Year 2: $189,565 Year 3: $194,961 Business/Commerce, General (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $162,478 Year 2: $163,561 Year 3: $177,652 Engineering-Related Fields (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $111,200 Year 2: $157,779 Year 3: $159,304 Engineering, Other (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $140,321 Year 2: $141,586 Year 3: $154,556 Medical Illustration and Informatics (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $88,288 Year 2: $118,465 Year 3: $132,325 Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $118,780 Year 2: $111,323 Year 3: $130,124 Community Organization and Advocacy (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $115,760 Year 2: $113,668 Year 3: $128,046

Compare Similar Colleges

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Harvard

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