-12%
Private nonprofit bachelor's-predominant peer
10-year earnings at Sterling College are 12% below the private nonprofit bachelor's-predominant peer median ($45.8k vs $52.3k).
Kansas · Private nonprofit · Predominantly bachelor's
Sterling College
Sterling, Kansas. 569 undergraduate students. 46 programs in the federal Field-of-Study dataset.
ANOMALY ENGINE · NOTABLE SIGNALS
What the data flags at Sterling 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.
+18%
In-state tuition
In-state tuition at Sterling College rose 18% between 2021 and 2024 ($28.5k → $33.7k).
+18%
Out-of-state tuition
Out-of-state tuition at Sterling College rose 18% between 2021 and 2024 ($28.5k → $33.7k).
-18pp
150%-time completion
150%-time completion fell 17 pp at Sterling College vs the 2018–2022 baseline (29.0% vs 46.5%).
SECTION 01 · OUTCOMES SNAPSHOT
The numbers, vs. Kansas
Each tile compares this institution to the Kansas median for the same metric. Sub-line shows the comparison value, not an interpretation. Sparklines trace the federally available history.
$45,846+13% · 6→10y
Kansas median $45,407$40,722
Treasury earnings · 6y post-entry29.0%+6% · '97→'24
Kansas median 46.4%$12,000+302% · '97→'20
At program completion569-17% · '96→'24
latest IPEDS58.9%-13% · '04→'24
first-time, full-time53.0%-18% · '01→'24
latest cohort$32,200+191% · '00→'24
out-of-state $32,200SECTION 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
3.5%Median federal debt $12,000 amortized over 10 years vs. median earnings $45,846 (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.
-13%
Sterling College · retention fell
58.0% → 50.3%
+191%
Sterling College · in-state tuition rose
$11,582 → $33,700
+191%
Sterling College · out-of-state tuition rose
$11,582 → $33,700
+302%
Sterling College · median debt rose
$6,125 → $24,625
-100%
Sterling College · cohort default rate fell
13.9% → 0.0%
+28%
Sterling College · earnings_median_10yr rose
$35,900 → $45,846
+28%
Sterling College · earnings_median_8yr rose
$33,200 → $42,526
+31%
Sterling College · earnings_median_6yr rose
$31,200 → $40,722
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.
PARKS, RECREATION & FITNESS · CIP 31
FINANCIAL OUTCOME · ILLUSTRATION
Estimate the financial outcome at Sterling 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
$138,509
Over 40 years, discounted 5.0%
BREAKEVEN
Year 20
First year cumulative discounted earnings cross zero
- Cost per year
- $21,760
- HS-only baseline · KS
- $36,100
- Years to complete
- 4
- CIP family
- 31
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 Kansas
Picked by Carnegie sector × predominant credential level. These are not rankings — just nearest-neighbour surfaces for comparison.
CAUSAL DISCIPLINE
“Sterling College graduates earn $X” — not “Sterling College makes you earn $X”
Median earnings describe what cohorts earned. They do not describe what attending Sterling 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.