Public · COLLEGE PAYOFF

Sandhills Community College

Pinehurst, NC · 3 reportable field-and-credential outcomes

10-year estimate · Negative payoff

−$277,368 over 10 years

Modeled from observed year-5 institution earnings and the institution-wide average net price over four years.

With these assumptions, the added earnings do not recover the cost within ten years.

Modeled economic break-even
−141%Modeled 10-year ROI
$36,926Observed earnings · year 5
Not reachedMaximum annual price for positive 10-year payoff
Includes direct price and earnings forgone while studying. Assumes $45,000 in alternative annual earnings and no wage growth. How we calculate it
ECONOMIC INVESTMENT → PAYBACK

Estimated payoff over ten years.

The scenario counts direct price and earnings forgone upfront, then applies the reported annual earnings premium.

10-YEAR PAYOFF CURVECumulative economic payoff after graduation
−$277,368at year 10
Net gainInvestment not yet recovered
NET GAIN$0UNRECOVERED
−$196,6280
2
4
6
8
−$277,36810
Years after graduationBreak-even: years
FEDERAL COST DATA

Four ways to read college price.

Annual college-wide figures from the current College Scorecard release. Average net price covers full-time, first-time undergraduates receiving federal aid; public-college figures use in-state students. Program tuition and individual aid offers may differ.

Published in-state tuition$2,040
Sticker price
Published out-of-state tuition$6,648
Sticker price
Average net price$4,157
Title IV student average
Cost of attendance$14,709
Tuition + living budget
PRICE SOURCECollege reported · annual amount · federal dataset
COLLEGE AT A GLANCE

Institution details

Current federal characteristics describing the college—not the outcomes of a specific program.

Accreditor
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges
Main award level
Associate degrees
Campus setting
Rural
Admissions
Open admission
Delivery
Campus or mixed delivery
Federal designation
No special designation reported
Sources: College Scorecard June 2026 release and IPEDS 2024 institutional characteristics.
OBSERVED FEDERAL MEASURES

Cost, debt, completion and earnings context

$4,157Average net price / year
$14,709Cost of attendance
Not availableMedian federal student debt · completer borrowers
Not availablePublished 10-year payment estimate
$36,926Median earnings · year 5 after completion
52.8%Completion rate
Not availableAdmission rate
2,539Student size

Institution debt covers federal student-loan borrowers who completed. Parent PLUS and private loans are excluded; missing and privacy-suppressed values remain unavailable.

PRICE BY FAMILY INCOME

Average net price is not one price

Federal averages for aided students in each family-income band. Your aid offer can differ.

$0–30k$2,674
$30–48k$3,988
$48–75k$5,713
$75–110k$7,778
$110k+$12,360
LONGER-TERM CONTEXT

What happens beyond the first earnings measure

Year 5$36,926
Year 6$28,363
Year 10$31,656
Full-time retention
80.2%
Part-time retention
50.5%
Completion within 200% of normal time
52.1%

Earnings timepoints may use different historical cohorts and should not be read as one group’s guaranteed salary growth.

NATIONAL CONTEXT

How this college compares

Percentiles compare this institution with currently operating colleges that report the same federal measure.

32thEarnings percentile
41thCompletion percentile
WHAT STANDS OUT

A faster read on this college

These summaries use only reportable field-and-credential records at this institution. They do not fill privacy-suppressed outcomes.

$54,671Median year-4 earnings across reportable program categories
$5,500Median federal debt across categories that report debt
0%Of earnings-reporting categories above their same-field national benchmark
EARNINGS PATH

Reported earnings over time

$36,448Year 1
$43,952Year 4
$36,926Year 5

Separate federal cohorts may underlie different measurement years.

PROGRAM PAYOFF SPREAD

The college average is not the whole story.

Observed earnings vary substantially by field and credential at the same institution.

1Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing · Associate's Degree$73,9882Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions · Associate's Degree$54,6713Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities · Associate's Degree$37,123

Observed year-4 earnings · compare like fields and credentials before deciding

BUILD A REAL SHORTLIST

Comparable colleges in NC

Currently operating public institutions with the closest combination of annual net price and observed year-5 earnings. Similarity is descriptive—not a quality ranking.

Kinston, NC

Lenoir Community College

Annual net price
$4,127
Observed earnings · year 5
$38,166
Modeled 10-year ROI
-135%
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Hamlet, NC

Richmond Community College

Annual net price
$5,071
Observed earnings · year 5
$36,391
Modeled 10-year ROI
-143%
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Flat Rock, NC

Blue Ridge Community College

Annual net price
$5,756
Observed earnings · year 5
$36,906
Modeled 10-year ROI
-140%
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Dobson, NC

Surry Community College

Annual net price
$4,961
Observed earnings · year 5
$38,196
Modeled 10-year ROI
-134%
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ALL REPORTABLE PROGRAM CATEGORIES

Explore exact field-and-credential outcomes

Federal fieldCredentialEarnings, year 4Federal debt2023–24 awards
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical NursingAssociate's Degree$73,988$12,977Not reported
Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment ProfessionsAssociate's Degree$54,671Not availableNot reported
Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and HumanitiesAssociate's Degree$37,123$5,500Not reported

Awards use first-major IPEDS completions aggregated to the same four-digit field and credential.

Earnings, price, completion and enrollment are observed federal measures. ROI, payoff and break-even are modeled scenarios built from those measures and fixed assumptions. College payoff is not the payoff of every degree at this school; use the program table for a more precise comparison.