-100%
3-year cohort default rate
3-year cohort default rate at Northwest Shoals Community College fell 100% between 2021 and 2024 (3.2% → 0.0%).
Alabama · Public · Predominantly certificates
Northwest Shoals Community College
Muscle Shoals, Alabama. 1,924 undergraduate students. 31 programs in the federal Field-of-Study dataset.
ANOMALY ENGINE · NOTABLE SIGNALS
What the data flags at Northwest Shoals Community College
Short-arc shifts (recent 3-year window), peer outliers, earnings trend breaks, completion drops, enrollment cliffs, and debt-to-earnings warnings — surfaced deterministically from the federal record. Multi-decade shifts are reported separately in the Long Arc section, since 25-year tuition drift isn't really an anomaly.
+31%
100%-time completion
100%-time completion at Northwest Shoals Community College rose 31% between 2009 and 2010 (5.1% → 6.7%).
+19%
150%-time completion
150%-time completion at Northwest Shoals Community College rose 19% between 2007 and 2010 (10.7% → 12.7%).
-13%
Median federal debt at exit
Median federal debt at exit at Northwest Shoals Community College fell 13% between 2017 and 2020 ($11.5k → $10.0k).
SECTION 01 · OUTCOMES SNAPSHOT
The numbers, vs. Alabama
Each tile compares this institution to the Alabama median for the same metric. Sub-line shows the comparison value, not an interpretation. Sparklines trace the federally available history.
$33,828+7% · 6→10y
Alabama median $39,017$31,469
Treasury earnings · 6y post-entry32.8%-19% · '99→'10
Alabama median 43.4%$5,500+281% · '97→'20
At program completion1,924+17% · '96→'24
latest IPEDS62.5%+23% · '04→'24
first-time, full-time—
latest cohort$5,071+205% · '00→'24
out-of-state $8,881SECTION 02 · EARNINGS HORIZONS
How earnings spread, 4 to 10 years after entry
Treasury tax-record earnings for federally aided students who first enrolled at this institution. Each point is a horizon from the most-recent vintage. Single median per horizon (no p25/p75 publishing).
Earnings widen with time post-entry. Selection: federal-aid recipients only — not all graduates.Methodology →
SECTION 03 · DEBT-TO-EARNINGS
What loans cost relative to earnings
Annual debt service as a share of median earnings 10 years after entry, computed under federal Direct loan terms (10-year fixed at 6%). The 8% line is the gainful-employment threshold from federal regulation; above 12% has historically been considered “failing” under prior rule cycles.
Institution-wide
2.2%Median federal debt $5,500 amortized over 10 years vs. median earnings $33,828 (10y after entry).
SECTION 04 · LONG ARC
Ten-plus year arc
Federally available history. Coverage varies by metric — IPEDS publishes some series only after 2009 and others only before.
Undergraduate enrollment.
150%-time completion rate.
Median federal student debt at exit.
+31%
Northwest Shoals Community College · completion · 100% rose
5.1% → 6.7%
+23%
Northwest Shoals Community College · retention rose
56.0% → 68.9%
+205%
Northwest Shoals Community College · in-state tuition rose
$1,680 → $5,131
+188%
Northwest Shoals Community College · out-of-state tuition rose
$3,120 → $9,001
+281%
Northwest Shoals Community College · median debt rose
$2,625 → $10,000
-100%
Northwest Shoals Community College · cohort default rate fell
27.1% → 0.0%
-45%
Northwest Shoals Community College · pell share fell
48.6% → 26.7%
+25%
Northwest Shoals Community College · earnings_median_10yr rose
$27,100 → $33,828
+31%
Northwest Shoals Community College · earnings_median_8yr rose
$24,500 → $32,116
+38%
Northwest Shoals Community College · earnings_median_6yr rose
$22,800 → $31,469
SECTION 05 · PROGRAMS
Ranked by 5-year earnings
Each row is one (CIP × credential) program reported by the institution in College Scorecard's Field-of-Study data. Cohort floor is 30 students; below this, federal data is suppressed.
SECTION 06 · BY CIP FAMILY
1 programs with earnings, grouped
Programs are grouped by 2-digit CIP family. Programs without reported earnings are hidden to keep the list focused.
HEALTH PROFESSIONS · CIP 51
SECTION 07 · SIMILAR INSTITUTIONS
Same sector and degree mix in Alabama
Picked by Carnegie sector × predominant credential level. These are not rankings — just nearest-neighbour surfaces for comparison.
CAUSAL DISCIPLINE
“Northwest Shoals Community College graduates earn $X” — not “Northwest Shoals Community College makes you earn $X”
Median earnings describe what cohorts earned. They do not describe what attending Northwest Shoals Community College caused. Selection effects (who admits, who enrolls, who completes) are real. We publish federal data with strict descriptive phrasing — and link the methodology where you can read about the limitations directly.