+14%
In-state tuition
In-state tuition at Colby College rose 14% between 2021 and 2024 ($61.2k → $69.6k).
Maine · Private nonprofit · Predominantly bachelor's
Colby
Waterville, Maine. 2,282 undergraduate students. 38 programs in the federal Field-of-Study dataset.
ANOMALY ENGINE · NOTABLE SIGNALS
What the data flags at Colby
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.
+79%
Private nonprofit bachelor's-predominant peer
10-year earnings at Colby College are 79% above the private nonprofit bachelor's-predominant peer median ($80.5k vs $45.0k).
+14%
Out-of-state tuition
Out-of-state tuition at Colby College rose 14% between 2021 and 2024 ($61.2k → $69.6k).
SECTION 01 · OUTCOMES SNAPSHOT
The numbers, vs. Maine
Each tile compares this institution to the Maine median for the same metric. Sub-line shows the comparison value, not an interpretation. Sparklines trace the federally available history.
$80,490+34% · 6→10y
Maine median $44,433$60,052
Treasury earnings · 6y post-entry90.2%+2% · '97→'24
Maine median 56.4%$15,000+36% · '97→'20
At program completion2,282+36% · '96→'24
latest IPEDS90.6%+2% · '04→'24
first-time, full-time6.8%-79% · '01→'24
latest cohort$66,600+113% · '00→'24
out-of-state $66,600SECTION 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
2.5%Median federal debt $15,000 amortized over 10 years vs. median earnings $80,490 (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.
+36%
Colby · undergrad enrollment rose
1,764 → 2,407
+113%
Colby · in-state tuition rose
$32,750 → $69,600
+113%
Colby · out-of-state tuition rose
$32,750 → $69,600
+36%
Colby · median debt rose
$14,112 → $19,157
-75%
Colby · cohort default rate fell
1.5% → 0.0%
+91%
Colby · pell share rose
7.5% → 14.3%
+43%
Colby · earnings_median_10yr rose
$56,100 → $80,490
+50%
Colby · earnings_median_8yr rose
$45,300 → $68,015
+53%
Colby · earnings_median_6yr rose
$39,300 → $60,052
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.
SECTION 06 · BY CIP FAMILY
5 programs with earnings, grouped
Programs are grouped by 2-digit CIP family. Programs without reported earnings are hidden to keep the list focused.
MULTI/INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES · CIP 30
PSYCHOLOGY · CIP 42
SOCIAL SCIENCES · CIP 45
NATURAL RESOURCES & CONSERVATION · CIP 03
FINANCIAL OUTCOME · ILLUSTRATION
Estimate the financial outcome at Colby
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
$957,720
Over 40 years, discounted 5.0%
BREAKEVEN
Year 4
First year cumulative discounted earnings cross zero
- Cost per year
- $2,247
- HS-only baseline · ME
- $36,200
- Years to complete
- 4
- CIP family
- 45
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 Maine
Picked by Carnegie sector × predominant credential level. These are not rankings — just nearest-neighbour surfaces for comparison.
CAUSAL DISCIPLINE
“Colby graduates earn $X” — not “Colby makes you earn $X”
Median earnings describe what cohorts earned. They do not describe what attending Colby 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.