Georgia State University-Perimeter College vs Lanier Technical College

Metric	Georgia State University-Perimeter College	Lanier Technical College
Undergraduate enrollment	13,693	4,613
Acceptance rate Lower means more selective	90.8%	—
Average SAT	919	—
In-state tuition	$3,104	$3,980
Out-of-state tuition	$10,064	$7,190
Average net price What students actually pay after aid	$11,453	$7,799
Median debt at graduation	$20,903	—
Graduation rate	22.1%	34.0%
First-year retention	66.4%	57.9%
Median salary (10 yr)	$47,384	$37,623

Metric

Georgia State University-Perimeter College

Lanier Technical College

Undergraduate enrollment

13,693

4,613

Acceptance rate
Lower means more selective

90.8%

—

Average SAT

919

—

In-state tuition

$3,104

$3,980

Out-of-state tuition

$10,064

$7,190

Average net price
What students actually pay after aid

$11,453

$7,799

Median debt at graduation

$20,903

—

Graduation rate

22.1%

34.0%

First-year retention

66.4%

57.9%

Median salary (10 yr)

$47,384

$37,623

What the numbers say

Lanier Technical College costs less after aid — $7,799 a year versus $11,453, a difference of $3,654 annually, or roughly $14,616 across four years.
Georgia State University-Perimeter College graduates report higher median earnings — $47,384 against $37,623 ten years after entry.
Lanier Technical College graduates a larger share of its students — 34.0% versus 22.1%.
On pure return — salary divided by net price — Lanier Technical College comes out ahead at 4.8× versus 4.1×.

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 State University-Perimeter College and Lanier Technical College run campus visits. Spending an afternoon on each will tell you things no dataset can.