Elaine Sterling Institute vs Interactive College of Technology-Chamblee

Metric	Elaine Sterling Institute	Interactive College of Technology-Chamblee
Undergraduate enrollment	641	521
In-state tuition	—	$11,330
Out-of-state tuition	—	$11,330
Average net price What students actually pay after aid	$30,314	$15,506
Median debt at graduation	$9,500	$10,555
Graduation rate	66.6%	37.0%
First-year retention	71.5%	59.5%
Median salary (10 yr)	—	$27,065

Metric

Elaine Sterling Institute

Interactive College of Technology-Chamblee

Undergraduate enrollment

641

521

In-state tuition

—

$11,330

Out-of-state tuition

—

$11,330

Average net price
What students actually pay after aid

$30,314

$15,506

Median debt at graduation

$9,500

$10,555

Graduation rate

66.6%

37.0%

First-year retention

71.5%

59.5%

Median salary (10 yr)

—

$27,065

What the numbers say

Interactive College of Technology-Chamblee costs less after aid — $15,506 a year versus $30,314, a difference of $14,808 annually, or roughly $59,232 across four years.
Elaine Sterling Institute graduates a larger share of its students — 66.6% versus 37.0%.

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 Elaine Sterling Institute and Interactive College of Technology-Chamblee run campus visits. Spending an afternoon on each will tell you things no dataset can.