-36%
100%-time completion
100%-time completion at Western Technical College fell 36% between 2023 and 2024 (68.4% → 43.6%).
Texas · Private for-profit · Predominantly certificates
Western Technical College
El Paso, Texas. 1,148 undergraduate students. 14 programs in the federal Field-of-Study dataset.
ANOMALY ENGINE · NOTABLE SIGNALS
What the data flags at Western 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.
+44%
For-profit certificate-predominant peer
10-year earnings at Western Technical College are 44% above the for-profit certificate-predominant peer median ($36.2k vs $25.2k).
+23%
Median federal debt at exit
Median federal debt at exit at Western Technical College rose 23% between 2017 and 2020 ($14.0k → $17.3k).
SECTION 01 · OUTCOMES SNAPSHOT
The numbers, vs. Texas
Each tile compares this institution to the Texas median for the same metric. Sub-line shows the comparison value, not an interpretation. Sparklines trace the federally available history.
$36,156+3% · 6→10y
Texas median $39,639$35,035
Treasury earnings · 6y post-entry71.3%+1% · '97→'24
Texas median 51.8%$13,406+270% · '97→'20
At program completion1,148+247% · '96→'24
latest IPEDS83.3%+18% · '04→'24
first-time, full-time—+24% · '09→'12
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
4.9%Median federal debt $13,406 amortized over 10 years vs. median earnings $36,156 (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.
-41%
Western Technical College · completion · 100% fell
73.9% → 43.6%
+18%
Western Technical College · retention rose
72.0% → 84.6%
+247%
Western Technical College · undergrad enrollment rose
348 → 1,206
+270%
Western Technical College · median debt rose
$4,669 → $17,277
-69%
Western Technical College · pell share fell
61.5% → 19.0%
+21%
Western Technical College · earnings_median_8yr rose
$28,600 → $34,484
+34%
Western Technical College · earnings_median_6yr rose
$26,100 → $35,035
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.
Electrical/Electronics Maintenance and Repair Technology.$58,911Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services.$58,766Environmental Control Technologies/Technicians.$48,919Precision Metal Working.$41,365Computer and Information Sciences, General.$40,273Vehicle Maintenance and Repair Technologies.$38,685Health and Medical Administrative Services.$32,976Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services.$28,828Somatic Bodywork and Related Therapeutic Services.$24,686
SECTION 06 · BY CIP FAMILY
9 programs with earnings, grouped
Programs are grouped by 2-digit CIP family. Programs without reported earnings are hidden to keep the list focused.
COMPUTER & INFORMATION SCIENCES · CIP 11
ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGIES · CIP 15
MECHANIC & REPAIR TECHNOLOGIES · CIP 47
PRECISION PRODUCTION · CIP 48
FINANCIAL OUTCOME · ILLUSTRATION
Estimate the financial outcome at Western 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%.
EARNINGS SUPPRESSED
Federal privacy rules suppressed earnings for Ground Transportation · Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma at Western Technical College(cohort below 30 students). The calculator can’t produce a number we’d stand behind, so we don’t.
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 Texas
Picked by Carnegie sector × predominant credential level. These are not rankings — just nearest-neighbour surfaces for comparison.
CAUSAL DISCIPLINE
“Western Technical College graduates earn $X” — not “Western Technical College makes you earn $X”
Median earnings describe what cohorts earned. They do not describe what attending Western 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.