Head-to-head

Key differences

The biggest gaps between these schools, largest first.

1. 1

   Stanford grads earn $34.7K more ten years out than Northwestern's ($124,080 vs. $89,363)

   Median earnings, 10 yrs
2. 2

   Stanford's yield is 27 pts higher than Northwestern's

   Yield rate
3. 3

   Stanford has 15 pts more first-gen students than Northwestern (30% vs. 15%)

   First-generation students
4. 4

   Stanford is 2.1× more selective than Northwestern

   Acceptance rate
5. 5

   Stanford costs about $7.6K less per year on average than Northwestern ($49,604 vs. $57,229, all students)

   Average cost, all students
6. 6

   Stanford's grants cover 44% of its full price on average, vs. 37% at Northwestern

   Aid generosity

The shape of each school

Each axis is a national rank among 4-year colleges; further out = more of it.