There are several postsecondary options for aspiring college students right in Salina, including a beauty school, a for-profit university, a non-profit university and a technical college. We focus on comparing traditional schools in the categories below to help students determine if any meet their educational needs, citing data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).
Closest Schools to Salina, Kansas
Some students may desire to attend school near home or a place of work. For the Salina area, there are mostly 4-year schools to choose from. Several of these schools provide graduate level degree programs.
- Brown Mackie College-Salina (located downtown)
- Kansas Wesleyan University (located downtown)
- Salina Area Technical College (located downtown)
- Bethany College (17.7 miles from downtown)
- Central Christian College of Kansas (31.5 miles from downtown)
Largest Schools Near Salina, Kansas
The largest schools near Salina are almost entirely private institutions. The Salina area offers a range of student populations between about 50 and 1,000 students.
- Central Christian College of Kansas (570 students)
- Tabor College (688 students)
- Bethany College (737 students)
- Kansas Wesleyan University (812 students)
- McPherson College (842 students)
Lowest Net Price
Individuals looking for the most affordable Salina-area school can compare net prices. The NCES calculates this figure by taking the total cost of attendance for full-time, first-time, in-state or in-district undergraduate students and subtracting the average amount of institutional or governmental scholarship or grant aid. The net price for the top schools in the area ranged from about $9,000-$26,700 in 2020-2021.
- Salina Area Technical College ($9,022)
- Central Christian College of Kansas ($15,009)
- McPherson College ($24,693)
- Bethany College ($26,732)
Highest Graduation Rate
The NCES gathers data on a school's overall graduation rate by calculating how many full-time undergraduate students complete their programs within 150% of 'normal' time (e.g. 3 years for an associate's program or 6 years for a bachelor's program). For the Salina-area schools, fairly moderate overall graduation rates were reported for 2021, with most being greater than 40%.
- Hesston College (64% graduation rate)
- Salina Area Technical College (62% graduation rate)
- McPherson College (53% graduation rate)
- Kansas Wesleyan University (39% graduation rate)
- Bethany College (30% graduation rate)
The Salina, Kansas, area offers mostly private institutions that range in location, size, price, and graduation rates to help students make the right choice for them.
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