Is Charter College Worth It?

Charter College's financial picture is weak. You pay $25,225 a year, and the typical graduate earns $35,504 a decade after enrolling. That gap is the core problem: your annual cost nearly matches most of a year's post-graduation pay. The one bright spot is low median debt at $14,176, which softens the blow but does not erase it.

Your major decides everything here. Computer and Information Sciences pays $59,169, the only program that clearly clears the cost of attendance and gives you real return. Business Administration lands at $37,208, roughly break-even against your yearly price. Below that, the numbers turn bad. Health and Medical Administrative Services pays $33,281 while carrying $45,100 in median debt for that program specifically, which is more than three times the school-wide median debt against pay that barely tops the median. Criminal Justice and Corrections graduates earn $27,048, less than the yearly net price you paid to get there. Those two programs do not pay off in Anchorage.

The specific risk is finishing in a program that leaves you earning less than you borrowed. A 57.5% graduation rate means a real chance you leave with debt and no degree, and as a for-profit, price does not drop much with grades or aid the way it might elsewhere.

The net price tiers barely move by income. If your family earns under $30k, you pay $23,949. over $110k, you pay $30,290. Lower income buys you almost no discount here, so budget for close to full cost at every income level.

This school fits you if you enroll in the computing program and finish. If you are drawn to criminal justice or health administration, the earnings do not justify what you pay, and you should look elsewhere.