Fortis College-Smyrna vs Georgia Career Institute

Metric	Fortis College-Smyrna	Georgia Career Institute
Undergraduate enrollment	607	515
In-state tuition	$15,543	—
Out-of-state tuition	$15,543	—
Average net price What students actually pay after aid	$23,657	$14,966
Median debt at graduation	$12,547	$7,735
Graduation rate	58.7%	69.0%
First-year retention	59.1%	76.5%
Median salary (10 yr)	$36,368	$23,686

Metric

Fortis College-Smyrna

Georgia Career Institute

Undergraduate enrollment

607

515

In-state tuition

$15,543

—

Out-of-state tuition

$15,543

—

Average net price
What students actually pay after aid

$23,657

$14,966

Median debt at graduation

$12,547

$7,735

Graduation rate

58.7%

69.0%

First-year retention

59.1%

76.5%

Median salary (10 yr)

$36,368

$23,686

What the numbers say

Georgia Career Institute costs less after aid — $14,966 a year versus $23,657, a difference of $8,691 annually, or roughly $34,764 across four years.
Fortis College-Smyrna graduates report higher median earnings — $36,368 against $23,686 ten years after entry.
Georgia Career Institute graduates a larger share of its students — 69.0% versus 58.7%.
On pure return — salary divided by net price — Georgia Career Institute comes out ahead at 1.6× versus 1.5×.

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