Georgia Highlands College
Public Community College in Rome, GA. Six-year graduation rate 60%. Median 10-year earnings $43,184.
Ten years after entry, the median Georgia Highlands College student earns $43,184 — a solidly middle-of-the-pack result for an undergraduate institution. Six-year completion sits at 60%, near the national average for undergraduate institutions. Graduates leave owing a median of $12,000 — modest by four-year standards.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.28 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Academics
60% graduate within six years — average, but that average still hides a large group who do not. Just 59% of first-years come back — most of the completion gap opens in year one. A 20% transfer-out rate accounts for part of that gap: those students left for another institution rather than dropping out, and the graduation rate above counts them as non-completers here. The student-faculty ratio is 21:1 — typical, which in practice means large lectures early and smaller classes in the major. As a public four-year university, the relevant comparison is other four-year schools rather than the national average across all institutions.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 4,441 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $6,838 annually, well below typical undergraduate net price. Income makes less difference than usual: $5,473 at $0–30k, $12,363 at $110k+. About 60% get grants averaging $5,546, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. Federal borrowing is uncommon here at 19% of students.
Entering first-year students
A different, smaller group than the rates above: full-time students in their first year of college anywhere. The grant series here also excludes the "other sources" counted in the all-undergraduate figure, so the two are not comparable.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 598 students
Net price by family income
The same students as the headline above, limited to those who received Title IV federal aid — a narrower group, with a lower overall average. IPEDS publishes no combined figure across these bands, so they should not be averaged into one.
| Family income band | Average net price |
|---|---|
| $0–30k | $5,473 |
| $30–48k | $5,989 |
| $48–75k | $7,827 |
| $75–110k | $10,618 |
| $110k+ | $12,363 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 844 of these 4,441 students, totalling $5,264,389 — an average of $6,237 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Floyd County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)