Highland Community College vs Oakton

Highland Community College and Oakton Community College, both esteemed institutions of higher learning, offer diverse educational opportunities to students in the Chicagoland area. While they share a commitment to academic excellence, these colleges differ in several key aspects. Highland, with an acceptance rate of 100%, welcomes a more diverse student body, with 43% of its students identifying as minorities. Oakton, with a slightly more selective admissions process (68% acceptance rate), boasts a higher graduation rate (42% vs. 32%). Both colleges offer a wide range of programs, with popular majors including Business, Liberal Arts, and Health Sciences. To help you make an informed decision about your educational journey, we've compiled a comprehensive comparison table highlighting the key differences between Highland and Oakton. Explore the table to find the college that best aligns with your academic goals and personal preferences.

	Highland Community College	Oakton Community College
Overview
Location	Freeport, Illinois	Des Plaines, Illinois
Campus setting	Town: Distant	City: Small
College type	2 year	2 year
Control/business model	Public	Public
Calendar system	Semester	Semester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
Students retention rate	64.0%	70.0%
Common app member	No	No
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	Open Admission	Open Admission
Application fees		$25
SAT range	N/A	N/A
ACT range	N/A	N/A
Students submitting SAT score
Students submitting ACT score
Total number of applicants
Total number of admissions given out
Admitted students who chose to enroll
Yield rate
Test scores (SAT/ACT)	Not required
High school GPA	N/A	N/A
Recommendation letters	N/A	N/A
High school transcript	N/A	N/A
English proficiency test (e.g. TOEFL)	N/A	N/A

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	$18,193	In state: $23,614 Out of state: $25,630
Average net price	$7,289	$6,143
Tuition	$5,856	In state: $10,276 Out of state: $12,292
Room & board
Available payment plans	Tuition payment plan	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	92.0% Average amount $5,281	52.0% Average amount $4,335
Students receiving federal student loan	9.0% Average amount $3,684	1.0% Average amount $3,526
Students taking out private loans	0.0% Average amount $0	0.0% Average amount $7,500

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	1,203 Men 37.9% Women 62.1%	7,433 Men 46.1% Women 53.9%
Graduate students	N/A	N/A
Racial/ethnic diversity	Low	Moderate
Out-of-state students	5.0%	0.3%
International students	0.8%	N/A
Campus local/setting	Town: Distant	City: Small
Dormitory capacity	N/A	N/A
First year students are required to live on campus?	N/A	N/A
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	Illinois Wisconsin Indiana Missouri Nebraska	Illinois Wisconsin District of Columbia

Academics
Popular study areas	Liberal Arts Health Professions Transportation and Logistics Multidisciplinary Studies Business	Liberal Arts Health Professions Business Multidisciplinary Studies Law Enforcement and Firefighting
Students to faculty ratio	10:1	13:1
Institutional accreditation	Higher Learning Commission	Higher Learning Commission

Outcome
Graduation rate	36.0%	28.5%
Dropout rate	44.4%	28.5%
Transferred out	10.2%	29.7%
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $57,569 Year 2: $53,497 Year 3: $55,834 Biological and Physical Sciences (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $30,533 Year 2: $24,730 Year 3: $32,345 Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $14,405 Year 2: $21,781 Year 3: $30,756	Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $65,988 Year 2: $60,771 Year 3: $63,332 Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $52,362 Year 2: $52,107 Year 3: $40,629 Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $20,570 Year 2: $19,797 Year 3: $30,589 Criminal Justice and Corrections (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $30,440 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Health and Medical Administrative Services (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $47,260 Year 3: N/A

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.

Highland Community College

Black Hawk College