Atlanta Technical College vs College of Coastal Georgia

Metric	Atlanta Technical College	College of Coastal Georgia
Undergraduate enrollment	3,875	2,979
Acceptance rate Lower means more selective	—	98.1%
Average SAT	—	1,000
Median ACT	—	19
In-state tuition	$3,382	$3,616
Out-of-state tuition	$5,950	$10,936
Average net price What students actually pay after aid	-$914	$15,261
Median debt at graduation	$9,500	$15,039
Graduation rate	48.7%	25.6%
First-year retention	64.9%	58.7%
Median salary (10 yr)	$30,350	$39,318

Metric

Atlanta Technical College

College of Coastal Georgia

Undergraduate enrollment

3,875

2,979

Acceptance rate
Lower means more selective

—

98.1%

Average SAT

—

1,000

Median ACT

—

In-state tuition

$3,382

$3,616

Out-of-state tuition

$5,950

$10,936

Average net price
What students actually pay after aid

-$914

$15,261

Median debt at graduation

$9,500

$15,039

Graduation rate

48.7%

25.6%

First-year retention

64.9%

58.7%

Median salary (10 yr)

$30,350

$39,318

What the numbers say

Atlanta Technical College costs less after aid — -$914 a year versus $15,261, a difference of $16,175 annually, or roughly $64,700 across four years.
College of Coastal Georgia graduates report higher median earnings — $39,318 against $30,350 ten years after entry.
Atlanta Technical College graduates a larger share of its students — 48.7% versus 25.6%.
On pure return — salary divided by net price — College of Coastal Georgia comes out ahead at 2.6× versus -33.2×.

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 Technical College and College of Coastal Georgia run campus visits. Spending an afternoon on each will tell you things no dataset can.