Harper vs Prairie State College

William Rainey Harper College and Prairie State College, both esteemed community colleges in Illinois, offer diverse educational opportunities to students seeking higher education. Harper College boasts a higher acceptance rate of 100%, welcoming a larger and more diverse student body compared to Prairie State's 99% acceptance rate. While Harper College excels in programs like Liberal Arts and Humanities, Prairie State shines in Health Professions and Related Programs. With Harper College's higher graduation rate of 24% and Prairie State's lower rate of 15%, students may find varying levels of academic support and resources at each institution. Explore the comprehensive comparison table below to delve into further details and discover which college aligns best with your academic aspirations and goals.

	Prairie State College	William Rainey Harper College
Overview
Location	Chicago Heights, Illinois	Palatine, Illinois
Campus setting	Suburb: Large	Suburb: Large
College type	2 year	2 year
Control/business model	Public	Public
Calendar system	Semester	Semester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
Students retention rate	53.0%	74.0%
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	In state: $25,562 Out of state: $27,284	In state: $29,820 Out of state: $31,632
Average net price	$7,059	$7,112
Tuition	In state: $8,610 Out of state: $10,332	In state: $9,372 Out of state: $11,184
Room & board
Available payment plans	Tuition payment plan	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	60.0% Average amount $6,684	57.0% Average amount $4,971
Students receiving federal student loan	5.0% Average amount $5,749	3.0% Average amount $4,807
Students taking out private loans	0.0% Average amount $0	0.0% Average amount $0

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	2,618 Men 34.9% Women 65.1%	12,015 Men 44.2% Women 55.8%
Graduate students	N/A	N/A
Racial/ethnic diversity	Moderate	Moderate
Out-of-state students	2.1%	0.5%
International students	1.4%	0.6%
Campus local/setting	Suburb: Large	Suburb: Large
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 Indiana Missouri	Illinois Pennsylvania Wisconsin Georgia Iowa

Academics
Popular study areas	Liberal Arts Health Professions Computer and Information Science Automotive Technology Law Enforcement and Firefighting	Liberal Arts Health Professions Business Multidisciplinary Studies Engineering Technologies
Students to faculty ratio	10:1	16:1
Institutional accreditation	Higher Learning Commission	Higher Learning Commission

Outcome
Graduation rate	16.9%	37.8%
Dropout rate	51.8%	28.9%
Transferred out	20.1%	20.6%
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $58,132 Year 2: $56,867 Year 3: $60,449 Dental Support Services and Allied Professions (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $48,414 Year 2: $53,697 Year 3: $57,487 Health/Medical Preparatory Programs (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $23,649 Year 3: $24,160 Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $29,171 Year 2: $26,353 Year 3: $24,036 Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions (Undergraduate Certificates or Diplomas) Year 1: $37,124 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Business Administration, Management and Operations (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $17,950 Year 3: N/A	Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $58,892 Year 2: $58,673 Year 3: $73,991 Dental Support Services and Allied Professions (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $61,058 Year 2: $59,937 Year 3: $64,559 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $63,114 Year 2: $61,908 Year 3: $62,113 Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services (Undergraduate Certificates or Diplomas) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $27,669 Year 3: $43,118 Practical Nursing, Vocational Nursing and Nursing Assistants (Undergraduate Certificates or Diplomas) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $31,127 Year 3: $39,397 Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $26,090 Year 2: $27,319 Year 3: $34,147 Health and Medical Administrative Services (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $36,373 Year 2: $28,598 Year 3: $32,807 Biological and Physical Sciences (Associate's Degrees) Year 1: $28,238 Year 2: $22,420 Year 3: $27,387 Health and Medical Administrative Services (Undergraduate Certificates or Diplomas) Year 1: $30,173 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A

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