-39%
150%-time completion
150%-time completion at Western Dakota Technical College fell 39% between 2006 and 2009 (65.3% → 40.0%).
South Dakota · Public · Predominantly associate's
Western Dakota Technical College
Rapid City, South Dakota. 733 undergraduate students. 42 programs in the federal Field-of-Study dataset.
ANOMALY ENGINE · NOTABLE SIGNALS
What the data flags at Western Dakota Technical 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 Western Dakota Technical College fell 100% between 2021 and 2024 (1.8% → 0.0%).
+25%
Median federal debt at exit
Median federal debt at exit at Western Dakota Technical College rose 25% between 2017 and 2020 ($12.0k → $15.0k).
-8pp
150%-time completion
150%-time completion fell 8 pp at Western Dakota Technical College vs the 2003–2007 baseline (53.1% vs 61.0%).
SECTION 01 · OUTCOMES SNAPSHOT
The numbers, vs. South Dakota
Each tile compares this institution to the South Dakota median for the same metric. Sub-line shows the comparison value, not an interpretation. Sparklines trace the federally available history.
$40,240+9% · 6→10y
South Dakota median $46,709$36,971
Treasury earnings · 6y post-entry53.1%-20% · '97→'09
South Dakota median 59.6%$9,500+186% · '97→'20
At program completion733-14% · '96→'24
latest IPEDS66.9%+12% · '04→'24
first-time, full-time—-17% · '01→'09
latest cohort$8,008+193% · '00→'24
out-of-state $8,008SECTION 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
3.1%Median federal debt $9,500 amortized over 10 years vs. median earnings $40,240 (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.
+12%
Western Dakota Technical College · retention rose
60.0% → 67.3%
+193%
Western Dakota Technical College · in-state tuition rose
$2,829 → $8,294
+193%
Western Dakota Technical College · out-of-state tuition rose
$2,829 → $8,294
+186%
Western Dakota Technical College · median debt rose
$5,250 → $15,000
-100%
Western Dakota Technical College · cohort default rate fell
16.5% → 0.0%
-28%
Western Dakota Technical College · pell share fell
46.2% → 33.1%
+35%
Western Dakota Technical College · earnings_median_10yr rose
$29,700 → $40,240
+35%
Western Dakota Technical College · earnings_median_8yr rose
$28,100 → $37,962
+42%
Western Dakota Technical College · earnings_median_6yr rose
$26,100 → $36,971
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.
Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions.$63,185Vehicle Maintenance and Repair Technologies.$57,387Criminal Justice and Corrections.$49,288Precision Metal Working.$46,336Practical Nursing, Vocational Nursing and Nursing Assistants.$45,734Business Administration, Management and Operations.$43,025Accounting and Related Services.$41,947Precision Metal Working.$40,835Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services.$35,826Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services.$33,161Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science/Research and Allied Professions.$31,763
SECTION 06 · BY CIP FAMILY
11 programs with earnings, grouped
Programs are grouped by 2-digit CIP family. Programs without reported earnings are hidden to keep the list focused.
HOMELAND SECURITY & PROTECTIVE SERVICES · CIP 43
MECHANIC & REPAIR TECHNOLOGIES · CIP 47
PRECISION PRODUCTION · CIP 48
HEALTH PROFESSIONS · CIP 51
Practical Nursing, Vocational Nursing and Nursing Assistants.$45,734Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science/Research and Allied Professions.$31,763Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services.$35,826Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions.$63,185Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services.$33,161
BUSINESS, MANAGEMENT & MARKETING · CIP 52
FINANCIAL OUTCOME · ILLUSTRATION
Estimate the financial outcome at Western Dakota Technical 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
$246,983
Over 40 years, discounted 5.0%
BREAKEVEN
Year 5
First year cumulative discounted earnings cross zero
- Cost per year
- $16,398
- HS-only baseline · SD
- $35,900
- Years to complete
- 1
- CIP family
- 51
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 South Dakota
Picked by Carnegie sector × predominant credential level. These are not rankings — just nearest-neighbour surfaces for comparison.
CAUSAL DISCIPLINE
“Western Dakota Technical College graduates earn $X” — not “Western Dakota Technical College makes you earn $X”
Median earnings describe what cohorts earned. They do not describe what attending Western Dakota Technical 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.