-34%
Undergraduate enrollment
Undergraduate enrollment at Whatcom Community College fell 34% between 2021 and 2024 (3.6k → 2.4k).
Washington · Public · Predominantly associate's
Whatcom Community College
Bellingham, Washington. 2,280 undergraduate students. 38 programs in the federal Field-of-Study dataset.
ANOMALY ENGINE · NOTABLE SIGNALS
What the data flags at Whatcom 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.
-89%
3-year cohort default rate
3-year cohort default rate at Whatcom Community College fell 89% between 2021 and 2024 (3.5% → 0.4%).
SECTION 01 · OUTCOMES SNAPSHOT
The numbers, vs. Washington
Each tile compares this institution to the Washington median for the same metric. Sub-line shows the comparison value, not an interpretation. Sparklines trace the federally available history.
$44,092+15% · 6→10y
Washington median $47,350$38,429
Treasury earnings · 6y post-entry36.4%+12% · '97→'24
Washington median 46.8%$8,000+305% · '97→'20
At program completion2,280-28% · '96→'24
latest IPEDS—+7% · '04→'16
first-time, full-time—
latest cohort$5,146+204% · '00→'24
out-of-state $11,096SECTION 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
2.4%Median federal debt $8,000 amortized over 10 years vs. median earnings $44,092 (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.
-28%
Whatcom Community College · undergrad enrollment fell
3,290 → 2,378
+204%
Whatcom Community College · in-state tuition rose
$1,680 → $5,115
+70%
Whatcom Community College · out-of-state tuition rose
$6,510 → $11,037
+305%
Whatcom Community College · median debt rose
$2,625 → $10,643
-98%
Whatcom Community College · cohort default rate fell
18.3% → 0.4%
+61%
Whatcom Community College · pell share rose
12.8% → 20.6%
+32%
Whatcom Community College · earnings_median_10yr rose
$33,400 → $44,092
+38%
Whatcom Community College · earnings_median_8yr rose
$30,000 → $41,372
+54%
Whatcom Community College · earnings_median_6yr rose
$24,900 → $38,429
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.$73,022Computer/Information Technology Administration and Management.$59,218Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services.$42,998Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities.$39,959Business Administration, Management and Operations.$39,443Somatic Bodywork and Related Therapeutic Services.$18,042
SECTION 06 · BY CIP FAMILY
6 programs with earnings, grouped
Programs are grouped by 2-digit CIP family. Programs without reported earnings are hidden to keep the list focused.
COMPUTER & INFORMATION SCIENCES · CIP 11
LIBERAL ARTS & GENERAL STUDIES · CIP 24
HEALTH PROFESSIONS · CIP 51
BUSINESS, MANAGEMENT & MARKETING · CIP 52
FINANCIAL OUTCOME · ILLUSTRATION
Estimate the financial outcome at Whatcom 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
-$3,396
Over 40 years, discounted 5.0%
BREAKEVEN
—
Doesn’t reach breakeven within the horizon
- Cost per year
- $11,745
- HS-only baseline · WA
- $41,200
- 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 Washington
Picked by Carnegie sector × predominant credential level. These are not rankings — just nearest-neighbour surfaces for comparison.
CAUSAL DISCIPLINE
“Whatcom Community College graduates earn $X” — not “Whatcom Community College makes you earn $X”
Median earnings describe what cohorts earned. They do not describe what attending Whatcom 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.