Atlanta Technical College vs Southern Crescent Technical College

Metric	Atlanta Technical College	Southern Crescent Technical College
Undergraduate enrollment	3,875	4,098
In-state tuition	$3,382	$3,516
Out-of-state tuition	$5,950	$6,084
Average net price What students actually pay after aid	-$914	$5,661
Median debt at graduation	$9,500	$9,500
Graduation rate	48.7%	58.3%
First-year retention	64.9%	62.8%
Median salary (10 yr)	$30,350	$36,104

Metric

Atlanta Technical College

Southern Crescent Technical College

Undergraduate enrollment

3,875

4,098

In-state tuition

$3,382

$3,516

Out-of-state tuition

$5,950

$6,084

Average net price
What students actually pay after aid

-$914

$5,661

Median debt at graduation

$9,500

Graduation rate

48.7%

58.3%

First-year retention

64.9%

62.8%

Median salary (10 yr)

$30,350

$36,104

What the numbers say

Atlanta Technical College costs less after aid — -$914 a year versus $5,661, a difference of $6,575 annually, or roughly $26,300 across four years.
Southern Crescent Technical College graduates report higher median earnings — $36,104 against $30,350 ten years after entry.
Southern Crescent Technical College graduates a larger share of its students — 58.3% versus 48.7%.
On pure return — salary divided by net price — Southern Crescent Technical College comes out ahead at 6.4× versus -33.2×.

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 Technical College and Southern Crescent Technical College run campus visits. Spending an afternoon on each will tell you things no dataset can.