NIC vs. CWI

North Idaho College vs. College of Western Idaho comparison

	North Idaho College	College of Western Idaho	College 3	College 4
	Remove	Remove	+Add	+Add
Overview	NIC	CWI
Location	Coeur d'Alene, ID	Nampa, ID
Setting	Small City	Rural Fringe
Enrollment	4,296	9,920
Type	Public 2 Year	Public 2 Year
National Ranking
Religious Affiliation	-	-	-	-
Status	Non-profit	Non-profit
Website	nic.edu	cwi.edu
Team Colors

Costs	NIC	CWI
Tuition (In State)	$2,436	$2,400
Tuition (Out of State)	$7,776	$7,344
Room & Board	$7,900	$6,732
Avg Net Price	$7,914	$9,852
Avg Grant Aid	$3,989	$4,537
% Receiving Grant Aid	100%	98%

Admission	NIC	CWI
Admission Chances	Calculate	Calculate
Applied	-	-
Admitted	-	-
Acceptance Rate	Open	Open
Enrolled %	Open	Open
Avg High School GPA	3.07	-
Typical High School Grades	B	-
Admissions Standards	Unavailable	Unavailable
Applicant Competition
ACT Range
SAT Range
Submit Test Scores
Application Deadline	Aug 6, 2025

Academics	NIC	CWI
Student to Faculty Ratio	14:1	19:1
Popular Majors	Liberal Arts and Humanities (42%) Health Professions (15%) Mechanic and Repair Technologies (12%) Business (6%) Precision Production Trades (5%)
Outcomes	NIC	CWI
Graduation Rate	-	-
Median Earnings (After 10 years)	$35,100	N/A
Making Student Loan Payments	37%	28%
Median Student Loan Debt	$10,500	$9,750
Median Loan Payment	$108	$100

Diversity	NIC	CWI
% Men	39%	44%
% Women	61%	56%
Racial Diversity	Very Low	Medium
HBCU	No	No
% White	81%	68%
% Black	1%	2%
% Hispanic	5%	16%
% Native American	3%	1%
% Pacific Islander	1%	1%
% Two or More Races	0%	2%
% International	0%	0%
% Unknown Race	8%	9%

Students	NIC	CWI
% In-State	80%	95%
% Out-of-State	19%	5%
Campus	NIC	CWI
Campus Housing	Yes	No
Freshman Dorm Required	No
Meal Plan	Yes	No
Weekend/Evening Classes	Yes	No
Daycare Facility	Yes
Learn More	Details	Details

Comparable Facts

• College of Western Idaho is larger than than NIC based on total student enrollment (9,920 students vs. 4,296 students)

NIC vs. CWI Cost Comparison

Which college is more expensive, NIC or CWI?

• North Idaho College is 17.6% more expensive to attend than CWI for in-state tuition ($4,000.00 vs. $3,400.00)
• Out of state tuition is 5.9% higher at NIC than College of Western Idaho ($7,776.00 vs. $7,344.00)
• The typical actual cost that students pay to attend (average net price) is less at North Idaho College than CWI ($7,914 vs. $9,852)
• Living costs (room and board or off-campus housing budget) at College of Western Idaho are 17.3% lower than costs at North Idaho College ($6,732 vs. $7,900)
• More students receive financial grant aid at North Idaho College than College of Western Idaho (100% vs. 98%)
• The average total grant financial aid received by College of Western Idaho students is 13.7% larger than aid received North Idaho College ($4,537 vs. $3,989)

Which college is harder to get into, NIC or CWI? Average SAT and ACT scores plus acceptance rates offer good insight into the difficulty of admission between CWI or NIC .

NIC vs. CWI Graduation Outcomes Comparison

Which is better, NIC or CWI? Graduation rate, salary and amount of student loan debt are indicators of a college which offers better outcomes for its graduates. Compare the following outcomes facts between CWI and NIC.

• College of Western Idaho students graduate with a $750 lower median federal student loan debt than NIC graduates. ($9,750 vs. $10,500)
• CWI graduates are paying $8 less per month on federal student loans than NIC graduates. ($100 vs. $108)
• More NIC graduates are actively paying back their federal student loan debt than former CWI students, three years after graduation. (37% vs. 28%)

Sources: U.S. Department of Education https://nces.ed.gov IPEDS and College Scorecard https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/