-18%
First-year retention
First-year retention at South College fell 18% between 2021 and 2024 (63.6% → 52.2%).
Tennessee · Private for-profit · Predominantly associate's
South College
Knoxville, Tennessee. 6,323 undergraduate students. 59 programs in the federal Field-of-Study dataset.
ANOMALY ENGINE · NOTABLE SIGNALS
What the data flags at South 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 South College fell 100% between 2021 and 2024 (2.2% → 0.0%).
+91%
Undergraduate enrollment
Undergraduate enrollment at South College rose 91% between 2021 and 2024 (4.6k → 8.7k).
+54%
100%-time completion
100%-time completion at South College rose 54% between 2021 and 2024 (32.4% → 50.0%).
SECTION 01 · OUTCOMES SNAPSHOT
The numbers, vs. Tennessee
Each tile compares this institution to the Tennessee median for the same metric. Sub-line shows the comparison value, not an interpretation. Sparklines trace the federally available history.
$36,642-2% · 6→10y
Tennessee median $38,880$37,570
Treasury earnings · 6y post-entry36.7%-1% · '99→'24
Tennessee median 57.6%$9,500+461% · '97→'20
At program completion6,323+2968% · '96→'24
latest IPEDS61.5%
first-time, full-time—+36% · '01→'10
latest cohort$17,935+129% · '00→'24
out-of-state $17,935SECTION 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
3.5%Median federal debt $9,500 amortized over 10 years vs. median earnings $36,642 (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.
+1043%
South College · retention rose
0.0% → 52.2%
+2968%
South College · undergrad enrollment rose
285 → 8,745
+129%
South College · in-state tuition rose
$8,100 → $18,535
+129%
South College · out-of-state tuition rose
$8,100 → $18,535
+461%
South College · median debt rose
$3,330 → $18,668
-100%
South College · cohort default rate fell
23.7% → 0.0%
-46%
South College · pell share fell
90.7% → 48.8%
+48%
South College · earnings_median_10yr rose
$24,800 → $36,642
+52%
South College · earnings_median_8yr rose
$25,100 → $38,269
+58%
South College · earnings_median_6yr rose
$23,800 → $37,570
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.
Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Administration.$138,701Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions.$129,128Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing.$70,203Business Administration, Management and Operations.$56,414Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions.$50,966Criminal Justice and Corrections.$44,713Food Science and Technology.$41,444Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services.$37,991
SECTION 06 · BY CIP FAMILY
8 programs with earnings, grouped
Programs are grouped by 2-digit CIP family. Programs without reported earnings are hidden to keep the list focused.
HOMELAND SECURITY & PROTECTIVE SERVICES · CIP 43
HEALTH PROFESSIONS · CIP 51
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing.$70,203Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services.$37,991Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions.$50,966Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions.$129,128Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Administration.$138,701
BUSINESS, MANAGEMENT & MARKETING · CIP 52
AGRICULTURE · CIP 01
FINANCIAL OUTCOME · ILLUSTRATION
Estimate the financial outcome at South 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
$590,681
Over 40 years, discounted 5.0%
BREAKEVEN
Year 7
First year cumulative discounted earnings cross zero
- Cost per year
- $18,193
- HS-only baseline · TN
- $34,600
- 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 Tennessee
Picked by Carnegie sector × predominant credential level. These are not rankings — just nearest-neighbour surfaces for comparison.
CAUSAL DISCIPLINE
“South College graduates earn $X” — not “South College makes you earn $X”
Median earnings describe what cohorts earned. They do not describe what attending South 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.