-100%
3-year cohort default rate
3-year cohort default rate at Nicholls State University fell 100% between 2021 and 2024 (2.4% → 0.0%).
Louisiana · Public · Predominantly bachelor's
Nicholls State University
Thibodaux, Louisiana. 4,772 undergraduate students. 54 programs in the federal Field-of-Study dataset.
ANOMALY ENGINE · NOTABLE SIGNALS
What the data flags at Nicholls State University
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.
+13%
100%-time completion
100%-time completion at Nicholls State University rose 13% between 2021 and 2024 (26.3% → 29.8%).
SECTION 01 · OUTCOMES SNAPSHOT
The numbers, vs. Louisiana
Each tile compares this institution to the Louisiana median for the same metric. Sub-line shows the comparison value, not an interpretation. Sparklines trace the federally available history.
$45,454+17% · 6→10y
Louisiana median $33,099$38,829
Treasury earnings · 6y post-entry54.3%+139% · '97→'24
Louisiana median 52.0%$13,156+532% · '97→'20
At program completion4,772-25% · '96→'24
latest IPEDS76.6%+11% · '04→'24
first-time, full-time96.0%+8% · '05→'24
latest cohort$8,173+244% · '00→'24
out-of-state $9,266SECTION 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
3.9%Median federal debt $13,156 amortized over 10 years vs. median earnings $45,454 (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.
+139%
Nicholls State University · completion · 150% rose
22.5% → 53.8%
+429%
Nicholls State University · completion · 100% rose
5.6% → 29.8%
+11%
Nicholls State University · retention rose
69.0% → 76.6%
-25%
Nicholls State University · undergrad enrollment fell
6,346 → 4,737
+244%
Nicholls State University · in-state tuition rose
$2,368 → $8,149
+532%
Nicholls State University · median debt rose
$3,585 → $22,675
-100%
Nicholls State University · cohort default rate fell
9.7% → 0.0%
+28%
Nicholls State University · earnings_median_8yr rose
$33,200 → $42,544
+31%
Nicholls State University · earnings_median_6yr rose
$29,600 → $38,829
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.$132,991Business Administration, Management and Operations.$84,450Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing.$76,027Mining and Petroleum Technologies/Technicians.$75,285Mining and Petroleum Technologies/Technicians.$71,690Management Information Systems and Services.$66,793Educational Administration and Supervision.$58,090Clinical, Counseling and Applied Psychology.$56,635Curriculum and Instruction.$54,353Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods.$51,058Health Services/Allied Health/Health Sciences, General.$50,821Marketing.$50,378Biology, General.$50,054Business Administration, Management and Operations.$49,085Student Counseling and Personnel Services.$47,908Communication Disorders Sciences and Services.$46,500Accounting and Related Services.$46,209Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods.$44,812Special Education and Teaching.$42,698Family and Consumer Sciences/Human Sciences, General.$42,620Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies, Other.$41,545Psychology, General.$41,452Sociology.$39,634Culinary Arts and Related Services.$38,417
Showing top 24 of 27 ranked programs.
SECTION 06 · BY CIP FAMILY
27 programs with earnings, grouped
Programs are grouped by 2-digit CIP family. Programs without reported earnings are hidden to keep the list focused.
PERSONAL & CULINARY SERVICES · CIP 12
EDUCATION · CIP 13
Curriculum and Instruction.$54,353Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods.$44,812Educational Administration and Supervision.$58,090Special Education and Teaching.$42,698Student Counseling and Personnel Services.$47,908Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods.$51,058
ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGIES · CIP 15
FAMILY & CONSUMER SCIENCES · CIP 19
ENGLISH LANGUAGE & LITERATURE · CIP 23
BIOLOGICAL & BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES · CIP 26
MULTI/INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES · CIP 30
SOCIAL SCIENCES · CIP 45
HEALTH PROFESSIONS · CIP 51
BUSINESS, MANAGEMENT & MARKETING · CIP 52
HISTORY · CIP 54
COMMUNICATION & JOURNALISM · CIP 09
FINANCIAL OUTCOME · ILLUSTRATION
Estimate the financial outcome at Nicholls State University
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
$750,570
Over 40 years, discounted 5.0%
BREAKEVEN
Year 6
First year cumulative discounted earnings cross zero
- Cost per year
- $12,659
- HS-only baseline · LA
- $32,800
- Years to complete
- 4
- 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 Louisiana
Picked by Carnegie sector × predominant credential level. These are not rankings — just nearest-neighbour surfaces for comparison.
CAUSAL DISCIPLINE
“Nicholls State University graduates earn $X” — not “Nicholls State University makes you earn $X”
Median earnings describe what cohorts earned. They do not describe what attending Nicholls State University 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.