Elaine Sterling Institute vs Fortis College-Smyrna

Metric	Elaine Sterling Institute	Fortis College-Smyrna
Undergraduate enrollment	641	607
In-state tuition	—	$15,543
Out-of-state tuition	—	$15,543
Average net price What students actually pay after aid	$30,314	$23,657
Median debt at graduation	$9,500	$12,547
Graduation rate	66.6%	58.7%
First-year retention	71.5%	59.1%
Median salary (10 yr)	—	$36,368

Metric

Elaine Sterling Institute

Fortis College-Smyrna

Undergraduate enrollment

641

607

In-state tuition

—

$15,543

Out-of-state tuition

—

$15,543

Average net price
What students actually pay after aid

$30,314

$23,657

Median debt at graduation

$9,500

$12,547

Graduation rate

66.6%

58.7%

First-year retention

71.5%

59.1%

Median salary (10 yr)

—

$36,368

What the numbers say

Fortis College-Smyrna costs less after aid — $23,657 a year versus $30,314, a difference of $6,657 annually, or roughly $26,628 across four years.
Elaine Sterling Institute graduates a larger share of its students — 66.6% versus 58.7%.

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 Elaine Sterling Institute and Fortis College-Smyrna run campus visits. Spending an afternoon on each will tell you things no dataset can.