South Dakota State University (SDSU) vs CSU San Marcos

South Dakota State University (SDSU) and California State University-San Marcos (CSUSM) are two distinct universities with unique offerings. SDSU, located in Brookings, South Dakota, is a public land-grant research university with an acceptance rate of 88% and a graduation rate of 62%. CSUSM, situated in San Marcos, California, is a public university with an acceptance rate of 73% and a graduation rate of 58%. While both universities offer a wide range of undergraduate and graduate programs, SDSU is known for its strong programs in agriculture, engineering, and nursing, while CSUSM excels in business, education, and the arts. Additionally, SDSU has a larger student body, with over 13,000 undergraduate and graduate students, compared to CSUSM's approximately 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students. To help you make an informed decision about your higher education journey, we have compiled

	California State University-San Marcos	South Dakota State University
Overview
Location	San Marcos, California	Brookings, South Dakota
Campus setting	Suburb: Large	Town: Remote
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Public	Public
Calendar system	Semester	Semester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate and Graduate	Undergraduate and Graduate
Students retention rate	79.0%	80.0%
Common app member	No	No
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	93.3%	87.4%
Application fees	Undergraduate: $70 Graduate: $70	Undergraduate: $20 Graduate: $35
SAT range	N/A	980 - 1220
ACT range	N/A	19 - 25
Students submitting SAT score		3.0%
Students submitting ACT score		86.0%
Total number of applicants	13,986	5,774
Total number of admissions given out	13,049	5,048
Admitted students who chose to enroll	2,413	2,019
Yield rate	18.5%	40.0%
Test scores (SAT/ACT)	N/A	N/A
High school GPA	Required	Required
Recommendation letters	Not required	Not required
High school transcript	Not required	Required
English proficiency test (e.g. TOEFL)	Not required	Required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	In state: $22,366 Out of state: $34,246	In state: $24,304 Out of state: $27,814
Average net price	$14,296	$17,859
Tuition	In state: $5,742 Out of state: $17,622	In state: $7,773 Out of state: $11,283
Room & board		Room/dormitory: $4,054 Meal plan: $4,082
Available payment plans	Tuition payment plan	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	70.0% Average amount $9,298	81.0% Average amount $4,747
Students receiving federal student loan	22.0% Average amount $4,734	60.0% Average amount $5,063
Students taking out private loans	1.0% Average amount $12,988	17.0% Average amount $9,956

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	14,963 Men 38.4% Women 61.6%	9,847 Men 45.2% Women 54.8%
Graduate students	1,292 Men 28.4% Women 71.6%	1,618 Men 37.3% Women 62.7%
Racial/ethnic diversity	Moderate	Very Low
Out-of-state students	1.5%	N/A
International students	3.4%	5.1%
Campus local/setting	Suburb: Large	Town: Remote
Dormitory capacity	1,547	4,488
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	California Colorado Washington Virginia Arizona	N/A

Academics
Popular study areas	Business Health Professions Biological and Biomedical Sciences Computer and Information Science Kinesiology & Leisure Studies	Health Professions Engineering Family and Consumer Sciences Education Agriculture
Students to faculty ratio	25:1	17:1
Institutional accreditation	Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior Colleges and University Commission	Higher Learning Commission

Outcome
Graduation rate	59.2%	59.5%
Dropout rate	33.6%	38.9%
Transferred out	2.6%	N/A
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $107,746 Year 2: $103,555 Year 3: $111,324 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $90,827 Year 2: $88,074 Year 3: $90,666 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $72,843 Year 2: $74,576 Year 3: $83,791 Special Education and Teaching (Master's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $66,941 Year 3: $72,765 Computer Science (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $58,962 Year 2: $71,015 Year 3: $71,818 Education, General (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $71,769 Year 2: $63,005 Year 3: $68,571 Physics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $57,318 Year 3: $65,899 Finance and Financial Management Services (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $45,297 Year 2: $49,520 Year 3: $62,797 Accounting and Related Services (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $59,252 Year 2: $55,286 Year 3: $59,957 Computer and Information Sciences, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $45,864 Year 3: $57,022	Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Administration (First Professional Degrees) Year 1: $110,688 Year 2: $117,014 Year 3: $126,250 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (First Professional Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $92,277 Year 3: $114,802 Computer and Information Sciences, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $53,967 Year 2: $74,845 Year 3: $81,032 Mechanical Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $60,229 Year 2: $61,322 Year 3: $70,114 Civil Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $58,268 Year 2: $59,124 Year 3: $62,932 Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science/Research and Allied Professions (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $54,985 Year 2: $56,234 Year 3: $61,104 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $58,372 Year 2: $57,860 Year 3: $60,463 Construction Engineering Technologies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $57,551 Year 2: $56,776 Year 3: $59,988 Plant Sciences (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $50,213 Year 2: $55,151 Year 3: $55,715 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $43,798 Year 3: $54,439

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