Oct 28, 2015 - News

How much students at local colleges make 10 years after starting classes

Andrew Dunn

I did a story a few weeks back listing the job placement rates of Charlotte colleges and graduation rates. These figures are important. But it also matters how well-paying those jobs are.

The federal government’s revamped College Scorecard gives us a look at a wide swath of data on our universities, including just how much money its students make a decade after they’ve started classes. Think, how much does a 28-year-old who went to this school make today?

Here are Mecklenburg County’s campuses, ranked by the amount of money its students make.

You’ll notice some interesting trends. Schools that boast high job placement rates — like Central Piedmont Community College and King’s College — rank low on this list of median salary.

A few caveats on the data: The figure represented is the median salary, meaning exactly half of people make more and half make less. It also only captures students who took out federal loans for their education, which makes up a large percentage but may have its own statistical oddities. Some 70 percent of students graduate with debt these days. It also appears that the data captures both graduates and people who dropped out.

I’m also including the typical debt these students leave with, so you can look at the debt-to-income ratio. These figures only include students who completed college.

Here’s the list.