-11%
First-year retention
First-year retention at William Carey University fell 11% between 2021 and 2024 (87.4% → 77.9%).
Mississippi · Private nonprofit · Predominantly bachelor's
William Carey University
Hattiesburg, Mississippi. 1,818 undergraduate students. 60 programs in the federal Field-of-Study dataset.
ANOMALY ENGINE · NOTABLE SIGNALS
What the data flags at William Carey University
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 William Carey University fell 100% between 2021 and 2024 (1.6% → 0.0%).
-9pp
150%-time completion
150%-time completion fell 9 pp at William Carey University vs the 2018–2022 baseline (40.8% vs 49.9%).
+21%
100%-time completion
100%-time completion at William Carey University rose 21% between 2021 and 2024 (37.5% → 45.2%).
SECTION 01 · OUTCOMES SNAPSHOT
The numbers, vs. Mississippi
Each tile compares this institution to the Mississippi median for the same metric. Sub-line shows the comparison value, not an interpretation. Sparklines trace the federally available history.
$43,087+14% · 6→10y
Mississippi median $33,017$37,639
Treasury earnings · 6y post-entry40.8%+119% · '97→'24
Mississippi median 46.9%$15,796+178% · '97→'20
At program completion1,818+25% · '96→'24
latest IPEDS80.3%+11% · '04→'24
first-time, full-time58.0%-5% · '01→'24
latest cohort$14,685+128% · '00→'24
out-of-state $14,685SECTION 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
4.9%Median federal debt $15,796 amortized over 10 years vs. median earnings $43,087 (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.
+119%
William Carey University · completion · 150% rose
27.4% → 59.8%
+194%
William Carey University · completion · 100% rose
15.4% → 45.3%
+11%
William Carey University · retention rose
70.0% → 77.9%
+25%
William Carey University · undergrad enrollment rose
1,762 → 2,201
+128%
William Carey University · in-state tuition rose
$6,780 → $15,480
+128%
William Carey University · out-of-state tuition rose
$6,780 → $15,480
+178%
William Carey University · median debt rose
$7,500 → $20,832
-100%
William Carey University · cohort default rate fell
8.4% → 0.0%
-59%
William Carey University · pell share fell
65.8% → 27.1%
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.
Medicine.$235,689Bioethics/Medical Ethics.$116,810Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing.$109,095Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing.$94,936Business Administration, Management and Operations.$71,634Educational Administration and Supervision.$59,868Special Education and Teaching.$46,341Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods.$45,479Business Administration, Management and Operations.$41,833Biology, General.$40,560Research and Experimental Psychology.$40,427Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods.$37,882English Language and Literature, General.$36,187Health and Physical Education/Fitness.$36,152Psychology, General.$34,413
SECTION 06 · BY CIP FAMILY
15 programs with earnings, grouped
Programs are grouped by 2-digit CIP family. Programs without reported earnings are hidden to keep the list focused.
EDUCATION · CIP 13
ENGLISH LANGUAGE & LITERATURE · CIP 23
BIOLOGICAL & BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES · CIP 26
PARKS, RECREATION & FITNESS · CIP 31
PSYCHOLOGY · CIP 42
HEALTH PROFESSIONS · CIP 51
BUSINESS, MANAGEMENT & MARKETING · CIP 52
FINANCIAL OUTCOME · ILLUSTRATION
Estimate the financial outcome at William Carey University
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
$314,019
Over 40 years, discounted 5.0%
BREAKEVEN
Year 12
First year cumulative discounted earnings cross zero
- Cost per year
- $15,717
- HS-only baseline · MS
- $30,200
- Years to complete
- 6
- CIP family
- 13
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 Mississippi
Picked by Carnegie sector × predominant credential level. These are not rankings — just nearest-neighbour surfaces for comparison.
CAUSAL DISCIPLINE
“William Carey University graduates earn $X” — not “William Carey University makes you earn $X”
Median earnings describe what cohorts earned. They do not describe what attending William Carey University 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.