West Georgia
Technical College
Public Community College in Waco, GA. Six-year graduation rate 35%. Median 10-year earnings $35,479.
Ten-year median earnings of $35,479 are on the low side, which raises the bar for what this degree needs to cost. Only 35% finish within six years, so roughly two in three students leave without the credential they enrolled for. Borrowing stays contained, with median debt at graduation of $11,110.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.31 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Mobility score 0.9 — limited economic uplift documented
Academics
Completion is the problem here: 35% graduate within six years. Retention is weak: only 58% of full-time first-years return, so roughly two in five leave after one year. Retention and graduation track closely, so most of the attrition shows up in the first year rather than after it. The student-faculty ratio is 19:1 — typical, which in practice means large lectures early and smaller classes in the major. Judge these figures against other institutions of the same type — sector explains more of the variation in completion than any single campus factor.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 4,811 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price is $3,323 a year after grant aid — low for a four-year institution, though your own figure depends on aid eligibility. Income makes less difference than usual: $1,311 at $0–30k, $9,102 at $110k+. 77% of students receive grant aid, averaging $6,438 — common but not automatic. Federal borrowing is uncommon here at 17% 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 · 562 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 | $1,311 |
| $30–48k | $1,655 |
| $48–75k | $4,394 |
| $75–110k | $7,320 |
| $110k+ | $9,102 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 823 of these 4,811 students, totalling $4,786,322 — an average of $5,816 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Haralson 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)