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🎓 College profile

Gordon State College

GA · Public · Distant town · 2,126 applicants 2023

87% admit rate $14,771/yr full price
Get your child's odds at Gordon State College Free Family Decision Report — Reach / Match / Likely + your real net price. Gordon State College starts already on the list. Start →

🎯 Parent/student verdict

Likely

Accessible for most applicants. Major value play for in-state residents.

✅ Best for

  • In-state residents (tuition ~$3,628 — major value play)
  • Students drawn to Health Professions or Business, Management, & Marketing (the two biggest majors)
  • Families wanting a small undergraduate experience

🎯 The reality

  • Bottom-quartile academic profile if: ACT below 15 (admitted-class quartiles; GPA floor is a calibrated heuristic where CDS not yet on file)
  • Out-of-state tuition is 3.0× the in-state rate

Verdict is composed from this college's structured data (admit rate, SAT bands, net price by income, Carnegie classification, scholarship grids) using transparent rule thresholds — not a chat-bot's opinion.

🏛️ Institutional snapshot

What kind of college is this?

Carnegie classification
Baccalaureate/Associate's Colleges: Mixed Bacc/Assoc
Total enrollment
2,544
1,000 - 4,999
In-state tuitionThe published full price before any aid. Families who don't qualify for need-based aid — common above ~$110K income — pay this, minus any merit scholarships.
$3,628
sticker, before aid
Out-of-state tuition
$10,948
+$7,320 vs in-state

⚠️ Sticker price isn't every family's price. Lower- and middle-income families often pay materially less after grants; higher-income families frequently pay close to sticker unless the college offers merit scholarships. Check the school's own net-price calculator for your number.

Admit rateThe share of applicants a college accepts. Useful context, but your student's odds depend on their own grades and scores, not the average.
86.8%
Accepts the majority
ACT middle 50%The middle half of enrolled students scored in this range — a quarter scored BELOW the low end and still got in, and a quarter scored above the high end. Above the top number is a genuine strength; below the bottom isn't automatic rejection.
15–21
composite
Test policyApplicants choose whether to send SAT/ACT scores. At many such colleges, students who submit strong scores are still admitted at higher rates.
Test-optional
2023
10-yr earningsMedian yearly pay of former students ten years after they STARTED here — not ten years after graduating — all majors combined. The broadest single outcome number a college reports.
$37,871
median, after entry

Source: federal IPEDS Admissions 2023 for scores + admit rate; federal College Scorecard (20260606 vintage) for earnings + outcomes. SAT/ACT bands are the 25th–75th percentile of enrolled submitters.

📊 Outcomes & cost

What graduates actually earn, finish, and owe.

Federal College Scorecard data. Earnings are median annual income measured years after entering. Debt is for federal-aid borrowers only (cash-pay students aren't counted).

Earnings, 6 yrs after entry
$33,163
Earnings, 10 yrs after entryMedian yearly pay of former students ten years after they STARTED here — not ten years after graduating — all majors combined. The broadest single outcome number a college reports.
$37,871
4-year completionThe share of students who finish a bachelor's in four years. Nationally barely half do — and a fifth year quietly adds a full extra year of cost to the real price.
20%
Median debt (completers)The federal-loan balance of the typical graduating borrower. Families who pay cash aren't counted, so read it as "among those who borrowed."
$17,500

📚 What students study here

Most popular majors at Gordon State College

Top 5 fields of study by bachelor's degrees awarded (most recent IPEDS Completions). Use this to see what Gordon State College actually graduates — not just what it markets.

1. Health Professions
68 degrees · 33.2%
Highest-paying group on this list, but most careers require additional training beyond a 4-year degree.
2. Business, Management, & Marketing
42 degrees · 20.5%
Broad set of corporate roles. Finance + consulting pay top, accounting + HR pay middle, sales spread is wide.
3. Education
35 degrees · 17.1%
Teaching is the largest path. Salary depends heavily on district + state.
4. Biological & Biomedical Sciences
30 degrees · 14.6%
Many bio majors → med school / grad school. Direct-employment bio roles are lower-paid than that pipeline.
5. Public Administration & Social Services
30 degrees · 14.6%
Government, nonprofit, social work. Mission-driven; lower wages than private sector but stable.

💼 What those majors earn here

Median earnings 4 years after entry, by major — Gordon State College's own graduates, not national averages.

Major (CIP) Credential Cohort 1-yr earnings 4-yr earnings
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing. Bachelor's Degree 43 $77,695 $82,747
Business Administration, Management and Operations. Bachelor's Degree 45 $39,798 $54,940
Biology, General. Bachelor's Degree 29 $29,542 $50,699
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods. Bachelor's Degree 45 $40,644 $46,514
Human Services, General. Bachelor's Degree 40 $33,648 $44,286
Health and Medical Administrative Services. Bachelor's Degree 8 $29,357 $40,799

Sources: IPEDS Completions (C2023_a; bachelor's-level first majors, 2-digit CIP family — share is of the top 5 only) · College Scorecard program-level outcomes (PP-FOS). Full college-vs-major comparison: /college-outcomes →

📈 Student body & economic mobility

Who attends here — and what the campus adds.

Opportunity Insights data. Why it matters even if you're full-pay: a high mobility rate means the campus itself confers earnings power — the outcomes aren't just selection effects.

Top-1% access
0.4%
from top-1% households
Mobility rateThe share of ALL students who arrived from the bottom 20% of family incomes AND reached the top 20% themselves by their early 30s — access and lift in one number, and a sign the campus itself adds earnings power.
1.0%
bottom 20% → top 20% by age 32
Upward rate
11.2%
of lower-income students who reach the top 20%
Pell recipientsStudents receiving federal Pell grants, which go to lower- and middle-income families — the standard shorthand for a college's economic mix.
48%
on federal need grants — context for these numbers

Full leaderboards: /college-mobility →

🤖 AI program signal

AI + computing education at Gordon State College

CS degrees (annual)
6
CIP 11.0701 + 11.0101

Full multi-lens comparison: /ai-colleges →

Alternatives to Gordon State College

Matched not just by selectivity, but by strategic goal — what a family actually decides on.

🏆 Better merit-aid options
These similar-selectivity schools publish merit scholarships your family can plan around — your kid’s stats could unlock real scholarship dollars.
The University of Alabama
AL · Public
21 stats-based + 2 competitive scholarships
Mississippi State University
MS · Public
18 stats-based + 1 competitive scholarships
University of Alabama at Birmingham
AL · Public
17 stats-based + 2 competitive scholarships
🛡️ Safer in-state options
Same state and similar selectivity, but with a more forgiving admit rate — useful safety / match anchors.
College of Coastal Georgia
GA · Public
98% admit rate (vs 87% here)
Columbus State University
GA · Public
99% admit rate (vs 87% here)
Middle Georgia State University
GA · Public
100% admit rate (vs 87% here)
🚀 Stronger campus value-add
Per Opportunity Insights, these campuses add more earnings power to the students they enroll than Gordon State College does — a quality signal, not a cost play.
California State University-Los Angeles
CA · Public
9.9% mobility rate (vs 1.0% here)
Pace University
NY · Private nonprofit
8.4% mobility rate (vs 1.0% here)
CUNY New York City College of Technology
NY · Public
8.3% mobility rate (vs 1.0% here)

⚖️ Or compare any college side-by-side

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