Whatcom Community College vs Highline College

When it comes to choosing the right community college, it's essential to consider factors like acceptance rates, popular majors, student body demographics, and graduation rates. Whatcom Community College and Highline College, both esteemed institutions in Washington, offer distinct experiences for prospective students. While Whatcom boasts a higher acceptance rate, Highline stands out with its diverse student body. Both colleges offer a range of popular majors, including nursing, business, and arts, but Whatcom excels in engineering and Highline in culinary arts. With comparable graduation rates, the choice between these colleges ultimately depends on individual preferences and academic goals. Explore our comprehensive comparison table to discover which college aligns best with your aspirations and needs.

	Highline College	Whatcom Community College
Overview
Location	Des Moines, Washington	Bellingham, Washington
Campus setting	Suburb: Large	City: Small
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Public	Public
Calendar system	Quarter	Quarter
Degrees offered	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
Students retention rate
Common app member	No	No
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	Open Admission	Open Admission
Application fees
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	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	In state: $20,334 Out of state: $20,803	In state: $20,393 Out of state: $25,997
Average net price	$9,882	$9,450
Tuition	$3,445	In state: $4,523 Out of state: $10,127
Room & board
Available payment plans	Tuition payment plan	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	35.0% Average amount $5,583	59.0% Average amount $5,510
Students receiving federal student loan	2.0% Average amount $5,614	7.0% Average amount $5,035
Students taking out private loans	0.0% Average amount $7,202	1.0% Average amount $12,750

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	4,951 Men 37.4% Women 62.6%	3,850 Men 42.3% Women 57.7%
Graduate students	N/A	N/A
Racial/ethnic diversity	Moderate	Low
Out-of-state students	2.7%	4.6%
International students	3.7%	6.1%
Campus local/setting	Suburb: Large	City: Small
Dormitory capacity	160	230
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	Washington Hawaii Oregon Alaska Arkansas	Washington Alaska Arizona California Colorado

Academics
Popular study areas	Liberal Arts Health Professions Business Education Physical Science	Liberal Arts Computer and Information Science Health Professions Business Education
Students to faculty ratio	10:1	13:1
Institutional accreditation	Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities	Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities

Outcome
Graduation rate	35.8%	34.0%
Dropout rate	35.3%	36.3%
Transferred out	21.3%	20.7%
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $69,653 Year 2: $64,493 Year 3: $69,747 Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $43,154 Year 2: $40,438 Year 3: $40,844 Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $30,948 Year 2: $28,960 Year 3: $40,192 Mental and Social Health Services and Allied Professions (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $31,974 Year 3: $35,459	Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $65,493 Year 2: $61,020 Year 3: $55,012 Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $38,853 Year 2: $40,209 Year 3: $42,479 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $27,494 Year 3: $36,042 Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $25,489 Year 2: $24,649 Year 3: $27,358 Somatic Bodywork and Related Therapeutic Services (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $18,771 Year 3: $18,428

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Whatcom Community College vs Highline College

Highline College

Whatcom Community College

Overview

Admission

Tuition and Fees

Financial Aid

Students and Campus

Academics

Outcome

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