+33%
Median federal debt at exit
Median federal debt at exit at Georgia Highlands College rose 33% between 2017 and 2020 ($9.0k → $12.0k).
Georgia · Public · Predominantly associate's
Georgia Highlands College
Rome, Georgia. 4,441 undergraduate students. 9 programs in the federal Field-of-Study dataset.
ANOMALY ENGINE · NOTABLE SIGNALS
What the data flags at Georgia Highlands 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.
-100%
3-year cohort default rate
3-year cohort default rate at Georgia Highlands College fell 100% between 2021 and 2024 (3.0% → 0.0%).
-18%
First-year retention
First-year retention at Georgia Highlands College fell 18% between 2021 and 2024 (72.2% → 59.3%).
+16%
Public associate's-predominant peer
10-year earnings at Georgia Highlands College are 16% above the public associate's-predominant peer median ($43.2k vs $37.2k).
SECTION 01 · OUTCOMES SNAPSHOT
The numbers, vs. Georgia
Each tile compares this institution to the Georgia median for the same metric. Sub-line shows the comparison value, not an interpretation. Sparklines trace the federally available history.
$43,184+15% · 6→10y
Georgia median $38,208$37,516
Treasury earnings · 6y post-entry20.8%+2% · '97→'09
Georgia median 41.6%$6,750+380% · '97→'20
At program completion4,441+59% · '96→'24
latest IPEDS67.3%+12% · '04→'24
first-time, full-time—+6% · '01→'09
latest cohort$2,944+59% · '00→'24
out-of-state $9,296SECTION 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
2.1%Median federal debt $6,750 amortized over 10 years vs. median earnings $43,184 (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.
+2532%
Georgia Highlands College · completion · 100% rose
0.8% → 20.0%
+12%
Georgia Highlands College · retention rose
53.0% → 59.3%
+59%
Georgia Highlands College · undergrad enrollment rose
2,992 → 4,761
+59%
Georgia Highlands College · in-state tuition rose
$1,964 → $3,120
+74%
Georgia Highlands College · out-of-state tuition rose
$5,800 → $10,080
+380%
Georgia Highlands College · median debt rose
$2,500 → $12,000
-100%
Georgia Highlands College · cohort default rate fell
17.0% → 0.0%
+60%
Georgia Highlands College · pell share rose
25.6% → 41.1%
+25%
Georgia Highlands College · earnings_median_10yr rose
$34,600 → $43,184
+20%
Georgia Highlands College · earnings_median_8yr rose
$32,400 → $38,965
+24%
Georgia Highlands College · earnings_median_6yr rose
$30,200 → $37,516
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
2 programs with earnings, grouped
Programs are grouped by 2-digit CIP family. Programs without reported earnings are hidden to keep the list focused.
LIBERAL ARTS & GENERAL STUDIES · CIP 24
HEALTH PROFESSIONS · CIP 51
FINANCIAL OUTCOME · ILLUSTRATION
Estimate the financial outcome at Georgia Highlands College
Pick a program. Cost from Scorecard net price by family income; earnings from Treasury 5-year-post-completion median, projected forward with a Mincer age-earnings curve. The selection-bias toggle applies the Dale-Krueger shrinkage. Outcomes illustration, not a forecast — see methodology.
Shrinks the earnings premium toward the matched-applicant mean. STEM <15%, business ~40%, arts & education ~60%.
NET PRESENT VALUE
$84,655
Over 40 years, discounted 5.0%
BREAKEVEN
Year 19
First year cumulative discounted earnings cross zero
- Cost per year
- $8,456
- HS-only baseline · GA
- $35,800
- Years to complete
- 2
- CIP family
- 24
Outcomes illustration · not a forecast. Projects observed Scorecard earnings forward with a Mincer age-earnings curve under your assumptions. See methodology for the math.
SECTION 07 · SIMILAR INSTITUTIONS
Same sector and degree mix in Georgia
Picked by Carnegie sector × predominant credential level. These are not rankings — just nearest-neighbour surfaces for comparison.
CAUSAL DISCIPLINE
“Georgia Highlands College graduates earn $X” — not “Georgia Highlands College makes you earn $X”
Median earnings describe what cohorts earned. They do not describe what attending Georgia Highlands 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.