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Western Technical College

La Crosse, WI 3,183 Undergrads 53.3% Grad Rate
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Total Cost
$16,078
Sticker Price
Avg Net Price
$11,008
After Aid
Median Earnings
$53,114
4yr Post-Grad

Vs. Peer Institutions

Net Price$11,008
Peer Midpoint: $9,847
Earnings (4yr Post-Grad)Completers only after graduation
$53,114
Peer Midpoint: $50,128
Earnings (10yr Post-Enroll)All enrolled after enrollment
$45,303
Peer Midpoint: $40,451
Graduation Rate53.3%
Peer Midpoint: 34.6%
Average Starting Age24.4
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 Recipients35.5%
Enrollment Status
Full-Time43.3%
Economic Outcomes
Earn More than HS70.8%

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
+$563k
+$47k
+$78k
Median Cost$11k/yr
+$543k
+$27k
+$58k
Full Cost$16k/yr
+$533k
+$18k
+$49k

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
28
∞
Median Cost$11k/yr
32
288%
Full Cost$16k/yr
34
166%
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 Return421%

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 Return57%
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)
$42,169
Natl Median: $44,589
Lifetime Value Added
-$2k
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $43,930
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
$9,208
Earnings (4yr)
$39,638
Natl Median: $34,272
Lifetime Value Added
-$30k
Median Debt
$5,935
Earnings (4yr)
$55,416
Natl Median: $57,584
Lifetime Value Added
+$139k
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $37,705
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
$13,750
Earnings (4yr)
$52,028
Natl Median: $47,440
Lifetime Value Added
+$103k
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $32,681
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Carpenters
CertCIP: 4602
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
$44,860
Natl Median: $41,835
Lifetime Value Added
+$27k
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $38,675
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
$6,422
Earnings (4yr)
$53,672
Natl Median: $52,615
Lifetime Value Added
+$121k
Median Debt
-
Earnings (5yr)
$57,230
Natl Median: $57,702
Lifetime Value Added
+$146k
Median Debt
$7,000
Earnings (4yr)
$36,635
Natl Median: $30,572
Lifetime Value Added
-$63k
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
$41,004
Natl Median: $33,673
Lifetime Value Added
-$15k
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
Electrical/Electronics Maintenance and Repair Technologies/Technicians
CertCIP: 4701
Median Debt
-
Earnings (2yr)
$41,565
Natl Median: $43,027
Lifetime Value Added
+$9k
Electromechanical Technologies/Technicians
CertCIP: 1504
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $65,202
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $55,796
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
$14,250
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $50,211
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $53,418
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Gerontology
CertCIP: 3011
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $48,636
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $35,447
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
$62,205
Natl Median: $48,148
Lifetime Value Added
+$209k
Heavy/Industrial Equipment Maintenance Technologies/Technicians
CertCIP: 4703
Median Debt
$8,969
Earnings (4yr)
$62,743
Natl Median: $62,199
Lifetime Value Added
+$214k
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $61,907
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $65,682
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Marketing
CertCIP: 5214
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $49,757
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
$5,500
Earnings (4yr)
$53,291
Natl Median: $56,073
Lifetime Value Added
+$117k
Median Debt
$5,916
Earnings (4yr)
$55,158
Natl Median: $48,702
Lifetime Value Added
+$136k
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $33,711
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $34,631
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $24,479
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Vehicle Maintenance and Repair Technologies/Technicians
CertCIP: 4706
Median Debt
$5,500
Earnings (4yr)
$53,475
Natl Median: $51,586
Lifetime Value Added
+$119k
Woodworking
CertCIP: 4807
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $44,664
Lifetime Value Added
N/A

Associate's Degrees

Median Debt
$13,980
Earnings (4yr)
$50,531
Natl Median: $47,660
Lifetime Value Added
+$33k
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $47,825
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
$12,000
Earnings (4yr)
$53,218
Natl Median: $42,269
Lifetime Value Added
+$59k
Median Debt
$11,033
Earnings (4yr)
$77,010
Natl Median: $65,389
Lifetime Value Added
+$279k
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $45,283
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $55,767
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
$18,940
Earnings (4yr)
$55,382
Natl Median: $48,733
Lifetime Value Added
+$80k
Median Debt
-
Earnings (2yr)
$25,194
Natl Median: $37,587
Lifetime Value Added
-$213k
Median Debt
-
Earnings (2yr)
$39,369
Natl Median: $57,472
Lifetime Value Added
-$62k
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
$63,116
Natl Median: $55,195
Lifetime Value Added
+$153k
Median Debt
-
Earnings (2yr)
$41,565
Natl Median: $41,737
Lifetime Value Added
-$39k
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
$56,759
Natl Median: $54,971
Lifetime Value Added
+$93k
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
$56,274
Natl Median: $54,726
Lifetime Value Added
+$89k
Median Debt
$13,750
Earnings (4yr)
$59,884
Natl Median: $46,706
Lifetime Value Added
+$123k
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $39,605
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
$11,479
Earnings (4yr)
$38,303
Natl Median: $38,127
Lifetime Value Added
-$89k
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $55,895
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Electromechanical Technologies/Technicians
AssocCIP: 1504
Median Debt
$11,000
Earnings (4yr)
$82,460
Natl Median: $73,046
Lifetime Value Added
+$328k
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $67,276
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $51,913
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Fire Protection
AssocCIP: 4302
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $73,589
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
$12,316
Earnings (4yr)
$44,586
Natl Median: $37,073
Lifetime Value Added
-$26k
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $58,236
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $41,099
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
$51,118
Natl Median: $54,425
Lifetime Value Added
+$39k
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $44,669
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $44,125
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $56,556
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Marketing
AssocCIP: 5214
Median Debt
-
Earnings (5yr)
$49,094
Natl Median: $44,264
Lifetime Value Added
+$9k
Median Debt
$17,454
Earnings (4yr)
$40,786
Natl Median: $40,734
Lifetime Value Added
-$64k
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $50,491
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $36,074
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
$15,150
Earnings (4yr)
$76,176
Natl Median: $80,813
Lifetime Value Added
+$271k
Median Debt
-
Earnings (2yr)
$22,329
Natl Median: $37,656
Lifetime Value Added
-$244k
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $36,642
Lifetime Value Added
N/A

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.