Valpo U vs St. Mary's University

Valparaiso University and St. Mary's University, both esteemed institutions of higher learning, offer distinct educational experiences. Valparaiso, a private Lutheran university in Indiana, boasts a higher acceptance rate (75%) compared to St. Mary's, a private Catholic university in Texas (68%). While Valparaiso's student body is predominantly White (79%), St. Mary's student body is more diverse, with a significant Hispanic population (43%). Both universities offer a range of popular majors, including Business, Nursing, and Education, but Valparaiso has a higher graduation rate (73%) than St. Mary's (65%). Explore the detailed comparison table to discover more key differences and make an informed decision about which university aligns best with your academic aspirations and personal preferences.

	St. Mary's University	Valparaiso University
Overview
Location	San Antonio, Texas	Valparaiso, Indiana
Campus setting	City: Large	Suburb: Large
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Private (Non Profit)	Private (Non Profit)
Calendar system	Semester	Semester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate and Graduate	Undergraduate and Graduate
Students retention rate	71.0%	81.0%
Common app member	Yes	Yes
Religious affiliation	Catholic	Evangelical

Admission
Acceptance rate	88.5%	93.2%
Application fees		$30
SAT range	N/A	N/A
ACT range	N/A	N/A
Students submitting SAT score
Students submitting ACT score
Total number of applicants	4,305	6,095
Total number of admissions given out	3,808	5,679
Admitted students who chose to enroll	606	601
Yield rate	15.9%	10.6%
Test scores (SAT/ACT)	N/A	N/A
High school GPA	Required	Not required
Recommendation letters	Not required	Not required
High school transcript	Not required	Not required
English proficiency test (e.g. TOEFL)	Required	Required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	$42,864	$56,516
Average net price	$17,899	$21,997
Tuition	$33,518	$43,400
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $7,070 Meal plan: $4,086	Room/dormitory: $7,956 Meal plan: $4,916
Available payment plans	Tuition payment plan Other alternative tuition plan	Prepaid tuition plan Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	99.0% Average amount $26,071	100.0% Average amount $33,693
Students receiving federal student loan	54.0% Average amount $5,583	63.0% Average amount $5,416
Students taking out private loans	6.0% Average amount $14,391	11.0% Average amount $15,132

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	2,093 Men 41.3% Women 58.7%	2,507 Men 42.2% Women 57.8%
Graduate students	1,339 Men 42.9% Women 57.1%	417 Men 42.9% Women 57.1%
Racial/ethnic diversity	Low	Low
Out-of-state students	4.5%	52.5%
International students	5.4%	6.8%
Campus local/setting	City: Large	Suburb: Large
Dormitory capacity	1,560	2,033
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	Texas New Mexico Colorado Montana Pennsylvania	Indiana Illinois Michigan Wisconsin Ohio

Academics
Popular study areas	Legal Profession Business Engineering Biological and Biomedical Sciences Social Sciences	Health Professions Business Engineering Computer and Information Science Education
Students to faculty ratio	11:1	11:1
Institutional accreditation	Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges	Higher Learning Commission

Outcome
Graduation rate	59.2%	74.5%
Dropout rate	39.9%	25.4%
Transferred out	N/A	N/A
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Law (First Professional Degrees) Year 1: $55,618 Year 2: $51,458 Year 3: $62,917 Accounting and Related Services (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $56,105 Year 2: $56,931 Year 3: $62,421 Finance and Financial Management Services (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $56,272 Year 2: $55,512 Year 3: $62,293 Health and Physical Education/Fitness (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $25,373 Year 2: $25,967 Year 3: $39,095 Psychology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $20,975 Year 2: $31,133 Year 3: $36,564 Communication and Media Studies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $34,526 Year 3: $35,547 Criminology (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $26,519 Year 2: $31,673 Year 3: $34,251 Criminal Justice and Corrections (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $30,206 Year 2: $28,960 Year 3: $34,018 Mathematics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $24,035 Year 3: $31,992 Biology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $18,044 Year 2: $26,896 Year 3: $29,126	Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (First Professional Degrees) Year 1: $94,025 Year 2: $117,572 Year 3: $120,200 Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $70,690 Year 2: $74,576 Year 3: $73,522 Mechanical Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $67,015 Year 2: $65,089 Year 3: $70,796 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $65,962 Year 2: $63,005 Year 3: $70,724 Civil Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $63,617 Year 2: $59,485 Year 3: $68,143 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $61,126 Year 2: $62,934 Year 3: $62,049 Law (First Professional Degrees) Year 1: $42,790 Year 2: $45,902 Year 3: $55,968 Marketing (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $46,691 Year 2: $48,041 Year 3: $54,471 Finance and Financial Management Services (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $50,272 Year 2: $50,231 Year 3: $53,238 Health and Physical Education/Fitness (Master's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $42,682 Year 3: $50,613

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