-49%
Private nonprofit bachelor's-predominant peer
10-year earnings at Sterling College are 49% below the private nonprofit bachelor's-predominant peer median ($30.6k vs $59.9k).
Vermont · Private nonprofit · Predominantly bachelor's
Sterling College
Craftsbury Common, Vermont. 66 undergraduate students. 4 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.
-85%
100%-time completion
100%-time completion at Sterling College fell 85% between 2021 and 2024 (36.0% → 5.3%).
-54%
Undergraduate enrollment
Undergraduate enrollment at Sterling College fell 54% between 2021 and 2024 (108 → 50).
-12%
150%-time completion
150%-time completion at Sterling College fell 12% between 2021 and 2024 (36.0% → 31.6%).
SECTION 01 · OUTCOMES SNAPSHOT
The numbers, vs. Vermont
Each tile compares this institution to the Vermont median for the same metric. Sub-line shows the comparison value, not an interpretation. Sparklines trace the federally available history.
$30,573+13% · 6→10y
Vermont median $50,331$27,109
Treasury earnings · 6y post-entry42.9%-40% · '97→'24
Vermont median 66.7%$13,625+411% · '97→'20
At program completion66-31% · '96→'24
latest IPEDS30.0%+26% · '04→'24
first-time, full-time92.3%+44% · '01→'24
latest cohort$40,760+207% · '00→'24
out-of-state $40,760SECTION 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
5.9%Median federal debt $13,625 amortized over 10 years vs. median earnings $30,573 (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.
-40%
Sterling College · completion · 150% fell
52.6% → 31.6%
-94%
Sterling College · completion · 100% fell
85.7% → 5.3%
+26%
Sterling College · retention rose
68.0% → 85.7%
+207%
Sterling College · in-state tuition rose
$13,280 → $40,760
+207%
Sterling College · out-of-state tuition rose
$13,280 → $40,760
+411%
Sterling College · median debt rose
$4,500 → $23,000
-100%
Sterling College · cohort default rate fell
7.1% → 0.0%
+35%
Sterling College · earnings_median_10yr rose
$22,700 → $30,573
+56%
Sterling College · earnings_median_8yr rose
$21,100 → $32,837
+37%
Sterling College · earnings_median_6yr rose
$19,800 → $27,109
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%.
EARNINGS SUPPRESSED
Federal privacy rules suppressed earnings for Agricultural Production Operations · Bachelor's Degree at Sterling 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 Vermont
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.