College ROI

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Minnesota State Community and Technical College

Fergus Falls, MN 2,942 Undergrads 40.5% Grad Rate
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Total Cost
$17,194
Sticker Price
Avg Net Price
$12,556
After Aid
Median Earnings
$54,581
4yr Post-Grad

Vs. Peer Institutions

Net Price$12,556
Peer Midpoint: $9,847
Earnings (4yr Post-Grad)Completers only after graduation
$54,581
Peer Midpoint: $50,128
Earnings (10yr Post-Enroll)All enrolled after enrollment
$45,591
Peer Midpoint: $40,451
Graduation Rate40.5%
Peer Midpoint: 34.6%
Warning: The majority of students at this institution do not graduate. Non-completers typically earn significantly less and face higher debt risks.
Average Starting Age24.6
Warning: High average starting age indicates non-traditional students with prior work experience, which may inflate the median earnings shown.
Socio-Economic Diversity
Pell Grant Recipients45.9%
Enrollment Status
Full-Time57.9%
Economic Outcomes
Earn More than HS69.9%

Admissions Profile

Acceptance
100.0%
SAT Avg
-
SAT Reading
25th: --75th: -
SAT Math
25th: --75th: -
ACT Composite
25th: --75th: -

ROI Sensitivity Analysis
Assuming 2 Years to Graduation

This analysis tests three cost scenarios (Scholarship, Average Net Price, Full Sticker Price) to show how college costs impact your long-term return compared to the average student and a high school graduate.

Lifetime Value Added (NPV)
⚠️ Caution: Underlying earnings data reflects graduates only. This institution flagged for high risk factors (low completion/older demographics) that may artificially inflate this ROI.

Institution Lifetime NPV
Vs Median Peer
Vs HS Grad
Zero Cost (Scholarship)$0
+$577k
+$61k
+$93k
Median Cost$13k/yr
+$554k
+$38k
+$70k
Full Cost$17k/yr
+$545k
+$30k
+$61k

ROI Efficiency Metrics
⚠️ Caution: Underlying earnings data reflects graduates only. This institution flagged for high risk factors (low completion/older demographics) that may artificially inflate this ROI.

Break-Even Age
Return on Inv. %
Zero Cost (Scholarship)$0
27
∞
Median Cost$13k/yr
31
302%
Full Cost$17k/yr
33
193%
Analysis Assumptions:
  • Starting Salary: Estimated from the 4-year post-graduation median earnings (assuming 2% annual growth from graduation).⚠️ Warning: The high average starting age or low completion rate may inflate the Median earnings and ROI shown.
  • Comparisons: "Vs Median Peer" compares to the median student nationwide in a similar level program. "Vs HS Grad" compares to a median high school graduate.
  • Break-Even: The age at which the college investment net income exceeds the median high school graduate's lifetime earnings.
  • NPV: Net Present Value of all future earnings minus costs and taxes, discounted at 7.8%.

Social Impact ROINew
⚠️ Caution: Underlying earnings data reflects graduates only. This institution flagged for high risk factors (low completion/older demographics) that may artificially inflate this ROI.

Measures the societal return on a donor's investment. Calculated as the incremental pre-tax lifetime earnings vs. HS grad, divided by the tax-adjusted donation cost.

Donor Return471%

Gov. Pell Grant ROINew
⚠️ Caution: Underlying earnings data reflects graduates only. This institution flagged for high risk factors (low completion/older demographics) that may artificially inflate this ROI.

Measures the government's return on Pell Grants via increased tax revenue. Calculated as the portion of incremental lifetime taxes (discounted at 5.4%) attributed to the Pell Grant investment.

Taxpayer Return67%
Important Note: Your ROI with any major will depend on the cost you pay to attend the program, and your starting salary. Both vary significantly across institutions. We encourage you to explore the ROI of a specific program variant by selecting the Program title of the credential level you are interested in. You will then have a more detailed return analysis for programs at specific institutions. We also encourage you to use the ROI calculator, or for more sophisticated analysis, the Guided ROI Interview, with your specific estimates of cost and salary.

Program ROI Analysis
⚠️ Caution: Underlying earnings data reflects graduates only. This institution flagged for high risk factors (low completion/older demographics) that may artificially inflate this ROI.

Certificates

Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
$43,282
Natl Median: $44,589
Lifetime Value Added
+$8k
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $28,266
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $34,272
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $41,771
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $32,681
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $65,028
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $38,675
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $41,400
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $50,162
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $52,615
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
$7,750
Earnings (4yr)
$22,027
Natl Median: $26,307
Lifetime Value Added
-$227k
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $57,702
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
$35,268
Natl Median: $30,572
Lifetime Value Added
-$79k
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $33,673
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $36,116
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $53,359
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
$5,500
Earnings (4yr)
$73,127
Natl Median: $53,078
Lifetime Value Added
+$315k
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $50,211
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Fire Protection
CertCIP: 4302
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $62,436
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $52,001
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
$18,882
Earnings (4yr)
$43,499
Natl Median: $35,447
Lifetime Value Added
+$11k
Median Debt
$5,500
Earnings (4yr)
$63,894
Natl Median: $48,148
Lifetime Value Added
+$224k
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $31,135
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $61,907
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $49,747
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $43,365
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $46,207
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $49,996
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
$13,000
Earnings (4yr)
$59,866
Natl Median: $56,073
Lifetime Value Added
+$183k
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $80,020
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
-
Earnings (2yr)
$22,667
Natl Median: $29,652
Lifetime Value Added
-$210k
Vehicle Maintenance and Repair Technologies/Technicians
CertCIP: 4706
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
$48,134
Natl Median: $51,586
Lifetime Value Added
+$61k

Associate's Degrees

Median Debt
$18,336
Earnings (4yr)
$43,659
Natl Median: $47,660
Lifetime Value Added
-$38k
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $34,692
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
-
Earnings (2yr)
$28,960
Natl Median: $42,269
Lifetime Value Added
-$175k
Median Debt
$19,654
Earnings (4yr)
$60,950
Natl Median: $65,389
Lifetime Value Added
+$130k
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $37,886
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Biology, General
AssocCIP: 2601
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $44,758
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $48,733
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $37,587
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
$18,250
Earnings (4yr)
$49,931
Natl Median: $49,927
Lifetime Value Added
+$24k
Chemistry
AssocCIP: 4005
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $51,597
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $64,519
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
-
Earnings (2yr)
$31,133
Natl Median: $57,472
Lifetime Value Added
-$152k
Median Debt
$16,594
Earnings (4yr)
$62,231
Natl Median: $54,246
Lifetime Value Added
+$142k
Computer Programming
AssocCIP: 1102
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
$46,903
Natl Median: $58,070
Lifetime Value Added
-$6k
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $41,737
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
$53,280
Natl Median: $54,971
Lifetime Value Added
+$57k
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $54,726
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
$57,698
Natl Median: $72,110
Lifetime Value Added
+$100k
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
$49,230
Natl Median: $46,706
Lifetime Value Added
+$17k
Median Debt
$12,525
Earnings (4yr)
$55,475
Natl Median: $61,982
Lifetime Value Added
+$78k
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $38,127
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
$11,341
Earnings (4yr)
$54,350
Natl Median: $55,895
Lifetime Value Added
+$67k
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
$90,982
Natl Median: $70,808
Lifetime Value Added
+$401k
Engineering, General
AssocCIP: 1401
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $72,916
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $40,095
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Fine and Studio Arts
AssocCIP: 5007
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $31,650
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
$13,836
Earnings (4yr)
$52,931
Natl Median: $46,500
Lifetime Value Added
+$54k
Median Debt
$21,000
Earnings (4yr)
$44,794
Natl Median: $37,073
Lifetime Value Added
-$27k
Median Debt
$14,287
Earnings (4yr)
$49,930
Natl Median: $54,425
Lifetime Value Added
+$24k
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $44,669
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
$12,000
Earnings (4yr)
$47,411
Natl Median: $44,125
Lifetime Value Added
-$585
Music
AssocCIP: 5009
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $34,056
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $45,634
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
-
Earnings (5yr)
$64,826
Natl Median: $62,755
Lifetime Value Added
+$154k
Median Debt
$19,000
Earnings (4yr)
$71,406
Natl Median: $80,813
Lifetime Value Added
+$226k
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $36,642
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Vehicle Maintenance and Repair Technologies/Technicians
AssocCIP: 4706
Median Debt
$12,000
Earnings (4yr)
$63,817
Natl Median: $58,424
Lifetime Value Added
+$157k

Other Programs

Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $56,308
Lifetime Value Added
N/A

Note: Lifetime Value Added is the Net Present Value (NPV) of estimated career earnings relative to a median high school graduate (for undergraduate programs) or a median bachelor's degree holder (for graduate programs), accounting for this institution's average cost and taxes. Computed over a career to retirement age.

For graduate programs (Master's, Doctoral, etc.), the calculation assumes a starting age of 22 (after undergraduate completion) and does not include the sunk costs of prior degrees. It represents the value added of the graduate decision moving forward. Note that the institution's average undergraduate net price is used as a proxy for annual cost, which may differ from actual graduate tuition. These Lifetime Value Added results for graduate degrees should not be compared with those for Undergraduate Certificates, Associates or Bachelors.

Completers Only: Federal median earnings data strictly reflects outcomes for students who successfully graduated. Students who do not complete their degree typically earn significantly less and face higher risks of debt default.