Gwinnett College vs Hogan Institute of Cosmetology and Esthetics

Metric	Gwinnett College	Hogan Institute of Cosmetology and Esthetics
Undergraduate enrollment	94	69
Average net price What students actually pay after aid	$34,071	$32,724
Median debt at graduation	$9,500	$10,666
Graduation rate	66.7%	82.6%
First-year retention	100.0%	18.2%
Median salary (10 yr)	$31,206	—

Metric

Gwinnett College

Hogan Institute of Cosmetology and Esthetics

Undergraduate enrollment

Average net price
What students actually pay after aid

$34,071

$32,724

Median debt at graduation

$9,500

$10,666

Graduation rate

66.7%

82.6%

First-year retention

100.0%

18.2%

Median salary (10 yr)

$31,206

—

What the numbers say

Hogan Institute of Cosmetology and Esthetics costs less after aid — $32,724 a year versus $34,071, a difference of $1,347 annually, or roughly $5,388 across four years.
Hogan Institute of Cosmetology and Esthetics graduates a larger share of its students — 82.6% versus 66.7%.

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 Gwinnett College and Hogan Institute of Cosmetology and Esthetics run campus visits. Spending an afternoon on each will tell you things no dataset can.