Paul Mitchell
the School-Federal Way
For-profit College in Federal Way, WA. Median 10-year earnings $31,123.
Median earnings ten years after entry come to $31,123, below what most undergraduate institutions return — the central fact to weigh against cost here. Graduates leave owing a median of $10,555 — 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 0.34 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Mobility score 1.0 — limited economic uplift documented
Academics
No six-year graduation rate is reported for this institution, which is common for schools whose students are mostly part-time, transfer in, or enroll in short programs that the federal cohort measure does not track. Its absence is not itself a bad sign, but it does remove the clearest completion signal. Retention is strong at 83%, and first-year attrition is where most degrees are lost. A 15:1 ratio points to small classes and accessible faculty. This is a for-profit short-program school. That is not disqualifying, but it does mean verifying accreditation, transferability of credits, and job-placement claims directly rather than trusting the category.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 209 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $12,900 annually, well below typical undergraduate net price. The income table below is the number that matters — $11,732 at $0–30k versus $20,940 at $110k+. About 72% get grants averaging $8,493, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. Federal borrowing reaches 52% 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 · 55 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 | $11,732 |
| $30–48k | $11,852 |
| $48–75k | $12,497 |
| $75–110k | $20,551 |
| $110k+ | $20,940 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 108 of these 209 students, totalling $712,916 — an average of $6,601 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (King 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)