+14%
In-state tuition
In-state tuition at Northampton County Area Community College rose 13% between 2021 and 2024 ($4.9k → $5.5k).
Pennsylvania · Public · Predominantly associate's
Northampton County Area Community College
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. 7,512 undergraduate students. 82 programs in the federal Field-of-Study dataset.
ANOMALY ENGINE · NOTABLE SIGNALS
What the data flags at Northampton County Area Community 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.
-100%
3-year cohort default rate
3-year cohort default rate at Northampton County Area Community College fell 100% between 2021 and 2024 (5.7% → 0.0%).
+12%
Out-of-state tuition
Out-of-state tuition at Northampton County Area Community College rose 12% between 2006 and 2009 ($9.2k → $10.3k).
+42%
Undergraduate enrollment
Undergraduate enrollment at Northampton County Area Community College rose 42% between 2006 and 2009 (7.7k → 10.9k).
SECTION 01 · OUTCOMES SNAPSHOT
The numbers, vs. Pennsylvania
Each tile compares this institution to the Pennsylvania median for the same metric. Sub-line shows the comparison value, not an interpretation. Sparklines trace the federally available history.
$41,566+14% · 6→10y
Pennsylvania median $49,859$36,571
Treasury earnings · 6y post-entry21.2%-9% · '97→'09
Pennsylvania median 66.1%$9,500+490% · '97→'20
At program completion7,512+131% · '96→'09
latest IPEDS65.4%+3% · '04→'24
first-time, full-time—
latest cohort$5,310+128% · '00→'24
out-of-state $14,730SECTION 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
3.0%Median federal debt $9,500 amortized over 10 years vs. median earnings $41,566 (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.
+131%
Northampton County Area Community College · undergrad enrollment rose
4,705 → 10,891
+128%
Northampton County Area Community College · in-state tuition rose
$2,430 → $5,550
+35%
Northampton County Area Community College · out-of-state tuition rose
$7,620 → $10,290
+490%
Northampton County Area Community College · median debt rose
$2,625 → $15,495
-100%
Northampton County Area Community College · cohort default rate fell
16.1% → 0.0%
+95%
Northampton County Area Community College · pell share rose
20.6% → 40.2%
+21%
Northampton County Area Community College · earnings_median_6yr rose
$30,200 → $36,571
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.$75,103Vehicle Maintenance and Repair Technologies.$65,626Dental Support Services and Allied Professions.$58,392Business/Commerce, General.$53,143Accounting and Related Services.$48,072Criminal Justice and Corrections.$47,582Social Work.$42,138Communication and Media Studies.$41,228Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities.$36,328Business Administration, Management and Operations.$35,375Health and Medical Administrative Services.$32,196Design and Applied Arts.$30,533
SECTION 06 · BY CIP FAMILY
12 programs with earnings, grouped
Programs are grouped by 2-digit CIP family. Programs without reported earnings are hidden to keep the list focused.
LIBERAL ARTS & GENERAL STUDIES · CIP 24
HOMELAND SECURITY & PROTECTIVE SERVICES · CIP 43
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION & SOCIAL SERVICES · CIP 44
MECHANIC & REPAIR TECHNOLOGIES · CIP 47
VISUAL & PERFORMING ARTS · CIP 50
HEALTH PROFESSIONS · CIP 51
BUSINESS, MANAGEMENT & MARKETING · CIP 52
COMMUNICATION & JOURNALISM · CIP 09
FINANCIAL OUTCOME · ILLUSTRATION
Estimate the financial outcome at Northampton County Area Community 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
-$18,302
Over 40 years, discounted 5.0%
BREAKEVEN
—
Doesn’t reach breakeven within the horizon
- Cost per year
- $11,938
- HS-only baseline · PA
- $38,100
- 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 Pennsylvania
Picked by Carnegie sector × predominant credential level. These are not rankings — just nearest-neighbour surfaces for comparison.
CAUSAL DISCIPLINE
“Northampton County Area Community College graduates earn $X” — not “Northampton County Area Community College makes you earn $X”
Median earnings describe what cohorts earned. They do not describe what attending Northampton County Area Community 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.