Georgia Institute of Technology vs Savannah College of Art and Design

Metric	Georgia Institute of Technology	Savannah College of Art and Design
Undergraduate enrollment	18,785	15,243
Acceptance rate Lower means more selective	14.1%	83.0%
Average SAT	1,480	1,173
Median ACT	32	—
In-state tuition	$12,058	$41,630
Out-of-state tuition	$34,484	$41,630
Average net price What students actually pay after aid	$12,116	$49,430
Median debt at graduation	$21,672	$25,148
Graduation rate	94.0%	69.4%
First-year retention	98.1%	86.3%
Median salary (10 yr)	$102,772	$45,954

Metric

Georgia Institute of Technology

Savannah College of Art and Design

Undergraduate enrollment

18,785

15,243

Acceptance rate
Lower means more selective

14.1%

83.0%

Average SAT

1,480

1,173

Median ACT

—

In-state tuition

$12,058

$41,630

Out-of-state tuition

$34,484

$41,630

Average net price
What students actually pay after aid

$12,116

$49,430

Median debt at graduation

$21,672

$25,148

Graduation rate

94.0%

69.4%

First-year retention

98.1%

86.3%

Median salary (10 yr)

$102,772

$45,954

What the numbers say

Georgia Institute of Technology is the harder admit at 14.1%, against 83.0% at Savannah College of Art and Design.
Georgia Institute of Technology costs less after aid — $12,116 a year versus $49,430, a difference of $37,314 annually, or roughly $149,256 across four years.
Georgia Institute of Technology graduates report higher median earnings — $102,772 against $45,954 ten years after entry.
Georgia Institute of Technology graduates a larger share of its students — 94.0% versus 69.4%.
On pure return — salary divided by net price — Georgia Institute of Technology comes out ahead at 8.5× versus 0.9×.

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 Georgia Institute of Technology and Savannah College of Art and Design run campus visits. Spending an afternoon on each will tell you things no dataset can.