Atlanta Metropolitan State College vs Emory University-Oxford College

Metric	Atlanta Metropolitan State College	Emory University-Oxford College
Undergraduate enrollment	1,228	967
Acceptance rate Lower means more selective	—	13.1%
Average SAT	—	1,520
Median ACT	—	33
In-state tuition	$3,248	$64,280
Out-of-state tuition	$10,400	$64,280
Average net price What students actually pay after aid	$5,258	$37,920
Median debt at graduation	$14,123	$18,250
Graduation rate	17.4%	94.1%
First-year retention	44.8%	93.7%
Median salary (10 yr)	$33,252	$80,137

Metric

Atlanta Metropolitan State College

Emory University-Oxford College

Undergraduate enrollment

1,228

967

Acceptance rate
Lower means more selective

—

13.1%

Average SAT

—

1,520

Median ACT

—

In-state tuition

$3,248

$64,280

Out-of-state tuition

$10,400

$64,280

Average net price
What students actually pay after aid

$5,258

$37,920

Median debt at graduation

$14,123

$18,250

Graduation rate

17.4%

94.1%

First-year retention

44.8%

93.7%

Median salary (10 yr)

$33,252

$80,137

What the numbers say

Atlanta Metropolitan State College costs less after aid — $5,258 a year versus $37,920, a difference of $32,662 annually, or roughly $130,648 across four years.
Emory University-Oxford College graduates report higher median earnings — $80,137 against $33,252 ten years after entry.
Emory University-Oxford College graduates a larger share of its students — 94.1% versus 17.4%.
On pure return — salary divided by net price — Atlanta Metropolitan State College comes out ahead at 6.3× versus 2.1×.

How to actually choose

Comparison tables are a starting point, not a decision. Three things matter more than anything in the table above:

Your real aid offer. Net price is an average across all income levels. Two students at the same school can pay amounts that differ by tens of thousands. Wait for actual award letters before ruling anything out on cost.
Your intended major. Earnings vary more between majors at one school than between schools for one major. A computer science graduate from the "lower earning" school here will likely out-earn a general studies graduate from the other.
Whether you will finish. Graduation rate is the metric most predictive of whether the money spent turns into a credential. Campus fit, support services, and commute all feed into it more than prestige does.

Visit before you commit

Both Atlanta Metropolitan State College and Emory University-Oxford College run campus visits. Spending an afternoon on each will tell you things no dataset can.