-100%
3-year cohort default rate
3-year cohort default rate at Southwest Minnesota State University fell 100% between 2021 and 2024 (1.6% → 0.0%).
Minnesota · Public · Predominantly bachelor's
Southwest Minnesota State University
Marshall, Minnesota. 2,045 undergraduate students. 67 programs in the federal Field-of-Study dataset.
ANOMALY ENGINE · NOTABLE SIGNALS
What the data flags at Southwest Minnesota 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.
+18%
First-year retention
First-year retention at Southwest Minnesota State University rose 18% between 2021 and 2024 (62.7% → 73.7%).
+17%
Undergraduate enrollment
Undergraduate enrollment at Southwest Minnesota State University rose 17% between 2021 and 2024 (2.0k → 2.3k).
SECTION 01 · OUTCOMES SNAPSHOT
The numbers, vs. Minnesota
Each tile compares this institution to the Minnesota median for the same metric. Sub-line shows the comparison value, not an interpretation. Sparklines trace the federally available history.
$51,342+19% · 6→10y
Minnesota median $48,321$43,282
Treasury earnings · 6y post-entry44.1%+49% · '97→'24
Minnesota median 54.7%$14,250+273% · '97→'20
At program completion2,045-17% · '96→'24
latest IPEDS69.6%+4% · '04→'24
first-time, full-time68.9%+19% · '01→'24
latest cohort$10,304+203% · '00→'24
out-of-state $10,304SECTION 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
3.7%Median federal debt $14,250 amortized over 10 years vs. median earnings $51,342 (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.
+49%
Southwest Minnesota State University · completion · 150% rose
30.3% → 45.1%
+117%
Southwest Minnesota State University · completion · 100% rose
13.8% → 30.0%
+203%
Southwest Minnesota State University · in-state tuition rose
$3,425 → $10,361
+50%
Southwest Minnesota State University · out-of-state tuition rose
$6,920 → $10,361
+273%
Southwest Minnesota State University · median debt rose
$5,500 → $20,500
-100%
Southwest Minnesota State University · cohort default rate fell
8.2% → 0.0%
+38%
Southwest Minnesota State University · earnings_median_10yr rose
$37,200 → $51,342
+33%
Southwest Minnesota State University · earnings_median_8yr rose
$36,000 → $48,039
+34%
Southwest Minnesota State University · earnings_median_6yr rose
$32,200 → $43,282
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.$84,871Business Administration, Management and Operations.$82,960Accounting and Related Services.$68,179Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas.$65,273Business Administration, Management and Operations.$62,733Finance and Financial Management Services.$62,403Education, General.$59,053Agricultural Business and Management.$55,400Marketing.$54,828Criminal Justice and Corrections.$53,479Psychology, General.$50,996Hospitality Administration/Management.$50,720Rhetoric and Composition/Writing Studies.$49,740Health and Physical Education/Fitness.$49,713Social Work.$47,740Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods.$47,061
SECTION 06 · BY CIP FAMILY
16 programs with earnings, grouped
Programs are grouped by 2-digit CIP family. Programs without reported earnings are hidden to keep the list focused.
EDUCATION · CIP 13
ENGLISH LANGUAGE & LITERATURE · CIP 23
PARKS, RECREATION & FITNESS · CIP 31
PSYCHOLOGY · CIP 42
HOMELAND SECURITY & PROTECTIVE SERVICES · CIP 43
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION & SOCIAL SERVICES · CIP 44
HEALTH PROFESSIONS · CIP 51
BUSINESS, MANAGEMENT & MARKETING · CIP 52
AGRICULTURE · CIP 01
FINANCIAL OUTCOME · ILLUSTRATION
Estimate the financial outcome at Southwest Minnesota 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
$165,551
Over 40 years, discounted 5.0%
BREAKEVEN
Year 16
First year cumulative discounted earnings cross zero
- Cost per year
- $12,810
- HS-only baseline · MN
- $39,400
- Years to complete
- 6
- CIP family
- 13
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 Minnesota
Picked by Carnegie sector × predominant credential level. These are not rankings — just nearest-neighbour surfaces for comparison.
CAUSAL DISCIPLINE
“Southwest Minnesota State University graduates earn $X” — not “Southwest Minnesota State University makes you earn $X”
Median earnings describe what cohorts earned. They do not describe what attending Southwest Minnesota 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.