+81%
Median federal debt at exit
Median federal debt at exit at Northwestern College rose 81% between 2006 and 2009 ($4.4k → $8.0k).
Illinois · Private for-profit · Predominantly associate's
Northwestern College
Oak Lawn, Illinois. 464 undergraduate students. 23 programs in the federal Field-of-Study dataset.
ANOMALY ENGINE · NOTABLE SIGNALS
What the data flags at Northwestern College
Short-arc shifts (recent 3-year window), peer outliers, earnings trend breaks, completion drops, enrollment cliffs, and debt-to-earnings warnings — surfaced deterministically from the federal record. Multi-decade shifts are reported separately in the Long Arc section, since 25-year tuition drift isn't really an anomaly.
-50%
Undergraduate enrollment
Undergraduate enrollment fell 50% at Northwestern College vs the 2003–2007 baseline (464 vs 928).
+16%
In-state tuition
In-state tuition at Northwestern College rose 16% between 2006 and 2009 ($17.1k → $19.9k).
+16%
Out-of-state tuition
Out-of-state tuition at Northwestern College rose 16% between 2006 and 2009 ($17.1k → $19.9k).
SECTION 01 · OUTCOMES SNAPSHOT
The numbers, vs. Illinois
Each tile compares this institution to the Illinois median for the same metric. Sub-line shows the comparison value, not an interpretation. Sparklines trace the federally available history.
$37,871+15% · 6→10y
Illinois median $40,810$32,980
Treasury earnings · 6y post-entry33.7%-50% · '98→'09
Illinois median 53.3%$9,569+104% · '97→'09
At program completion464
latest IPEDS—-10% · '04→'09
first-time, full-time—+15% · '01→'09
latest cohort$18,475+76% · '00→'09
out-of-state $18,475SECTION 02 · EARNINGS HORIZONS
How earnings spread, 4 to 10 years after entry
Treasury tax-record earnings for federally aided students who first enrolled at this institution. Each point is a horizon from the most-recent vintage. Single median per horizon (no p25/p75 publishing).
Earnings widen with time post-entry. Selection: federal-aid recipients only — not all graduates.Methodology →
SECTION 03 · DEBT-TO-EARNINGS
What loans cost relative to earnings
Annual debt service as a share of median earnings 10 years after entry, computed under federal Direct loan terms (10-year fixed at 6%). The 8% line is the gainful-employment threshold from federal regulation; above 12% has historically been considered “failing” under prior rule cycles.
Institution-wide
3.4%Median federal debt $9,569 amortized over 10 years vs. median earnings $37,871 (10y after entry).
SECTION 04 · LONG ARC
Ten-plus year arc
Federally available history. Coverage varies by metric — IPEDS publishes some series only after 2009 and others only before.
Undergraduate enrollment.
150%-time completion rate.
Median federal student debt at exit.
-50%
Northwestern College · completion · 150% fell
64.7% → 32.3%
-10%
Northwestern College · retention fell
50.0% → 44.8%
+580%
Northwestern College · undergrad enrollment rose
0 → 1,159
+76%
Northwestern College · in-state tuition rose
$11,340 → $19,940
+76%
Northwestern College · out-of-state tuition rose
$11,340 → $19,940
+104%
Northwestern College · median debt rose
$3,918 → $8,000
SECTION 05 · PROGRAMS
Ranked by 5-year earnings
Each row is one (CIP × credential) program reported by the institution in College Scorecard's Field-of-Study data. Cohort floor is 30 students; below this, federal data is suppressed.
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing.$90,597Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions.$54,045Criminal Justice and Corrections.$46,788Legal Support Services.$43,963Accounting and Related Services.$43,196Health and Medical Administrative Services.$41,928Business Administration, Management and Operations.$39,157Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services.$36,808Health and Medical Administrative Services.$36,599Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services.$35,865
SECTION 06 · BY CIP FAMILY
10 programs with earnings, grouped
Programs are grouped by 2-digit CIP family. Programs without reported earnings are hidden to keep the list focused.
LEGAL PROFESSIONS · CIP 22
HOMELAND SECURITY & PROTECTIVE SERVICES · CIP 43
HEALTH PROFESSIONS · CIP 51
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing.$90,597Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services.$35,865Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions.$54,045Health and Medical Administrative Services.$41,928Health and Medical Administrative Services.$36,599Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services.$36,808
BUSINESS, MANAGEMENT & MARKETING · CIP 52
FINANCIAL OUTCOME · ILLUSTRATION
Estimate the financial outcome at Northwestern College
Pick a program. Cost from Scorecard net price by family income; earnings from Treasury 5-year-post-completion median, projected forward with a Mincer age-earnings curve. The selection-bias toggle applies the Dale-Krueger shrinkage. Outcomes illustration, not a forecast — see methodology.
Shrinks the earnings premium toward the matched-applicant mean. STEM <15%, business ~40%, arts & education ~60%.
NET PRESENT VALUE
$1,063,827
Over 40 years, discounted 5.0%
BREAKEVEN
Year 3
First year cumulative discounted earnings cross zero
- Cost per year
- $27,226
- HS-only baseline · IL
- $38,300
- Years to complete
- 2
- CIP family
- 51
Outcomes illustration · not a forecast. Projects observed Scorecard earnings forward with a Mincer age-earnings curve under your assumptions. See methodology for the math.
SECTION 07 · SIMILAR INSTITUTIONS
Same sector and degree mix in Illinois
Picked by Carnegie sector × predominant credential level. These are not rankings — just nearest-neighbour surfaces for comparison.
CAUSAL DISCIPLINE
“Northwestern College graduates earn $X” — not “Northwestern College makes you earn $X”
Median earnings describe what cohorts earned. They do not describe what attending Northwestern College caused. Selection effects (who admits, who enrolls, who completes) are real. We publish federal data with strict descriptive phrasing — and link the methodology where you can read about the limitations directly.