Dalton State College vs Strayer University-Georgia

Metric	Dalton State College	Strayer University-Georgia
Undergraduate enrollment	4,553	4,299
In-state tuition	$3,336	$13,920
Out-of-state tuition	$10,656	$13,920
Average net price What students actually pay after aid	$5,012	$18,318
Median debt at graduation	$12,937	$40,621
Graduation rate	25.3%	21.4%
First-year retention	70.9%	75.0%
Median salary (10 yr)	$40,251	$40,092

Metric

Dalton State College

Strayer University-Georgia

Undergraduate enrollment

4,553

4,299

In-state tuition

$3,336

$13,920

Out-of-state tuition

$10,656

$13,920

Average net price
What students actually pay after aid

$5,012

$18,318

Median debt at graduation

$12,937

$40,621

Graduation rate

25.3%

21.4%

First-year retention

70.9%

75.0%

Median salary (10 yr)

$40,251

$40,092

What the numbers say

Dalton State College costs less after aid — $5,012 a year versus $18,318, a difference of $13,306 annually, or roughly $53,224 across four years.
Dalton State College graduates report higher median earnings — $40,251 against $40,092 ten years after entry.
Dalton State College graduates a larger share of its students — 25.3% versus 21.4%.
On pure return — salary divided by net price — Dalton State College comes out ahead at 8.0× versus 2.2×.

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 Dalton State College and Strayer University-Georgia run campus visits. Spending an afternoon on each will tell you things no dataset can.