Gwinnett College-Lilburn vs Helms College

Metric	Gwinnett College-Lilburn	Helms College
Undergraduate enrollment	156	183
In-state tuition	$11,300	$17,924
Out-of-state tuition	$11,300	$17,924
Average net price What students actually pay after aid	$30,175	$25,358
Median debt at graduation	$18,062	$9,500
Graduation rate	58.3%	36.4%
First-year retention	60.0%	86.7%
Median salary (10 yr)	$31,422	—

Metric

Gwinnett College-Lilburn

Helms College

Undergraduate enrollment

156

183

In-state tuition

$11,300

$17,924

Out-of-state tuition

$11,300

$17,924

Average net price
What students actually pay after aid

$30,175

$25,358

Median debt at graduation

$18,062

$9,500

Graduation rate

58.3%

36.4%

First-year retention

60.0%

86.7%

Median salary (10 yr)

$31,422

—

What the numbers say

Helms College costs less after aid — $25,358 a year versus $30,175, a difference of $4,817 annually, or roughly $19,268 across four years.
Gwinnett College-Lilburn graduates a larger share of its students — 58.3% versus 36.4%.

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 Gwinnett College-Lilburn and Helms College run campus visits. Spending an afternoon on each will tell you things no dataset can.