-18%
First-year retention
First-year retention at Gaston College fell 18% between 2021 and 2024 (66.5% → 54.4%).
North Carolina · Public · Predominantly certificates
Gaston College
Dallas, North Carolina. 3,359 undergraduate students. 76 programs in the federal Field-of-Study dataset.
ANOMALY ENGINE · NOTABLE SIGNALS
What the data flags at Gaston 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.
-34%
Median federal debt at exit
Median federal debt at exit at Gaston College fell 34% between 2007 and 2010 ($4.0k → $2.6k).
+11%
In-state tuition
In-state tuition at Gaston College rose 11% between 2021 and 2024 ($2.9k → $3.2k).
+16%
Undergraduate enrollment
Undergraduate enrollment at Gaston College rose 16% between 2021 and 2024 (3.0k → 3.5k).
SECTION 01 · OUTCOMES SNAPSHOT
The numbers, vs. North Carolina
Each tile compares this institution to the North Carolina median for the same metric. Sub-line shows the comparison value, not an interpretation. Sparklines trace the federally available history.
$35,386+11% · 6→10y
North Carolina median $36,030$31,988
Treasury earnings · 6y post-entry50.7%+797% · '97→'09
North Carolina median 46.1%—+13% · '97→'10
At program completion3,359+80% · '96→'24
latest IPEDS61.2%+1% · '04→'24
first-time, full-time—
latest cohort$3,186+262% · '00→'24
out-of-state $9,330SECTION 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 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.
+312%
Gaston College · completion · 150% rose
2.0% → 17.6%
+80%
Gaston College · undergrad enrollment rose
1,950 → 3,518
+231%
Gaston College · in-state tuition rose
$880 → $3,186
+72%
Gaston College · out-of-state tuition rose
$5,432 → $9,330
-100%
Gaston College · cohort default rate fell
10.4% → 0.0%
+20%
Gaston College · earnings_median_10yr rose
$29,400 → $35,386
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.$64,239Practical Nursing, Vocational Nursing and Nursing Assistants.$59,459Criminal Justice and Corrections.$45,493Legal Support Services.$38,366Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities.$38,243Business Administration, Management and Operations.$33,912Mental and Social Health Services and Allied Professions.$33,084Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services.$32,372Health and Medical Administrative Services.$32,171Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods.$25,429
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.
EDUCATION · CIP 13
LEGAL PROFESSIONS · CIP 22
LIBERAL ARTS & GENERAL STUDIES · CIP 24
HOMELAND SECURITY & PROTECTIVE SERVICES · CIP 43
HEALTH PROFESSIONS · CIP 51
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing.$64,239Practical Nursing, Vocational Nursing and Nursing Assistants.$59,459Health and Medical Administrative Services.$32,171Mental and Social Health Services and Allied Professions.$33,084Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services.$32,372
BUSINESS, MANAGEMENT & MARKETING · CIP 52
FINANCIAL OUTCOME · ILLUSTRATION
Estimate the financial outcome at Gaston 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
$80,548
Over 40 years, discounted 5.0%
BREAKEVEN
Year 19
First year cumulative discounted earnings cross zero
- Cost per year
- $7,190
- HS-only baseline · NC
- $35,600
- Years to complete
- 2
- CIP family
- 24
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 North Carolina
Picked by Carnegie sector × predominant credential level. These are not rankings — just nearest-neighbour surfaces for comparison.
CAUSAL DISCIPLINE
“Gaston College graduates earn $X” — not “Gaston College makes you earn $X”
Median earnings describe what cohorts earned. They do not describe what attending Gaston 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.