Vassar College vs St. Thomas Aquinas College (STAC)

Vassar College and St. Thomas Aquinas College, two distinct institutions of higher learning, offer unique educational experiences to their students. Vassar, a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, boasts a highly selective admissions process with an acceptance rate of 24%, while St. Thomas Aquinas, a private Catholic college in Sparkill, New York, maintains a more open admissions policy with an acceptance rate of 80%. Vassar's student body is predominantly female, with women comprising 63% of the undergraduate population, while St. Thomas Aquinas has a more balanced gender ratio, with 52% female and 48% male students. Both colleges offer a diverse range of academic programs, with Vassar being known for its strengths in the humanities and social sciences, and St. Thomas Aquinas excelling in business, education, and nursing. With Vassar's graduation rate at 88% and St. Thomas Aquinas' at 75%,

	St. Thomas Aquinas College	Vassar College
Overview
Location	Sparkill, New York	Poughkeepsie, New York
Campus setting	Suburb: 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	80.0%	95.0%
Common app member	Yes	Yes
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	89.2%	20.1%
Application fees	Undergraduate: $30 Graduate: $30	Undergraduate: $65 Graduate: $65
SAT range	1035 - 1235	1420 - 1540
ACT range	25 - 32	32 - 34
Students submitting SAT score	12.0%	31.0%
Students submitting ACT score	2.0%	20.0%
Total number of applicants	1,417	10,884
Total number of admissions given out	1,264	2,193
Admitted students who chose to enroll	233	679
Yield rate	18.4%	31.0%
Test scores (SAT/ACT)	N/A	N/A
High school GPA	Required	Not required
Recommendation letters	Not required	Required
High school transcript	Not required	Not required
English proficiency test (e.g. TOEFL)	Required	Required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	$45,450	$81,330
Average net price	$18,502	$27,249
Tuition	$34,500	$61,940
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $8,800 Meal plan: $6,980	$15,710
Available payment plans	Tuition payment plan	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	100.0% Average amount $29,267	57.0% Average amount $49,162
Students receiving federal student loan	51.0% Average amount $5,462	46.0% Average amount $3,729
Students taking out private loans	4.0% Average amount $11,711	4.0% Average amount $14,435

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	1,848 Men 50.3% Women 49.7%	2,516 Men 38.4% Women 61.6%
Graduate students	178 Men 33.1% Women 66.9%	N/A
Racial/ethnic diversity	Low	Moderate
Out-of-state students	16.7%	N/A
International students	4.0%	8.4%
Campus local/setting	Suburb: Large	Suburb: Large
Dormitory capacity	659	2,448
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	New York New Jersey California Connecticut Ohio	N/A

Academics
Popular study areas	Education Business Law Enforcement and Firefighting Kinesiology & Leisure Studies Psychology	Biological and Biomedical Sciences Foreign Languages and Literatures Social Sciences Ethnic Studies Mathematics and Statistics
Students to faculty ratio	17:1	8:1
Institutional accreditation	Middle States Commission on Higher Education	Middle States Commission on Higher Education

Outcome
Graduation rate	55.5%	92.5%
Dropout rate	43.8%	5.6%
Transferred out	N/A	2.0%
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Special Education and Teaching (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $61,745 Year 2: $57,860 Year 3: $67,801 Finance and Financial Management Services (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $46,087 Year 3: $62,449 Communication and Media Studies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $28,236 Year 2: $39,009 Year 3: $59,233 General Sales, Merchandising and Related Marketing Operations (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $38,253 Year 2: $42,435 Year 3: $52,232 Criminal Justice and Corrections (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $30,810 Year 2: $30,228 Year 3: $45,783 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $36,992 Year 3: $42,966 Psychology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $24,212 Year 2: $22,329 Year 3: $39,647 Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $50,270 Year 3: N/A Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas (Master's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $62,012 Year 3: N/A Health and Physical Education/Fitness (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $17,958 Year 2: $34,704 Year 3: N/A	Computer and Information Sciences, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $64,930 Year 2: $69,535 Year 3: $93,622 Economics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $64,665 Year 2: $57,995 Year 3: $66,026 Mathematics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $59,871 Year 2: $49,683 Year 3: $59,758 Film/Video and Photographic Arts (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $19,233 Year 2: $39,729 Year 3: $45,366 Political Science and Government (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $38,929 Year 2: $31,670 Year 3: $43,616 International Relations and National Security Studies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: N/A Year 3: $40,086 Fine and Studio Arts (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $32,522 Year 2: $35,600 Year 3: $38,666 Psychology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $32,708 Year 3: $38,274 Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $20,008 Year 2: $28,236 Year 3: $36,733 English Language and Literature, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $39,175 Year 2: $30,771 Year 3: $35,465

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