+54%
Median federal debt at exit
Median federal debt at exit at Empire College rose 54% between 2007 and 2010 ($7.5k → $11.5k).
California · Private for-profit · Predominantly graduate
Empire College
Santa Rosa, California. 19 programs in the federal Field-of-Study dataset.
ANOMALY ENGINE · NOTABLE SIGNALS
What the data flags at Empire 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.
-32%
Undergraduate enrollment
Undergraduate enrollment at Empire College fell 32% between 2007 and 2010 (900 → 609).
-28pp
150%-time completion
150%-time completion fell 28 pp at Empire College vs the 2004–2008 baseline (64.7% vs 92.5%).
-24%
100%-time completion
100%-time completion at Empire College fell 24% between 2009 and 2010 (77.7% → 58.7%).
SECTION 01 · OUTCOMES SNAPSHOT
The numbers, vs. California
Each tile compares this institution to the California median for the same metric. Sub-line shows the comparison value, not an interpretation. Sparklines trace the federally available history.
$43,090-5% · 6→10y
California median $42,588$45,445
Treasury earnings · 6y post-entry64.7%+10% · '97→'10
California median 61.3%$12,000+73% · '97→'10
At program completion—+29% · '96→'10
latest IPEDS—-4% · '04→'10
first-time, full-time—
latest cohort—
annualSECTION 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
3.7%Median federal debt $12,000 amortized over 10 years vs. median earnings $43,090 (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.
-24%
Empire College · completion · 100% fell
77.7% → 58.7%
+29%
Empire College · undergrad enrollment rose
472 → 609
+73%
Empire College · median debt rose
$6,625 → $11,479
-35%
Empire College · pell share fell
39.0% → 25.5%
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
3 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
BUSINESS, MANAGEMENT & MARKETING · CIP 52
SECTION 07 · SIMILAR INSTITUTIONS
Same sector and degree mix in California
Picked by Carnegie sector × predominant credential level. These are not rankings — just nearest-neighbour surfaces for comparison.
CAUSAL DISCIPLINE
“Empire College graduates earn $X” — not “Empire College makes you earn $X”
Median earnings describe what cohorts earned. They do not describe what attending Empire 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.