Is Hastings College Worth It?

Hastings College sits in the middle financially. You pay about $21,554 a year, graduate with $27,000 in debt if you're typical, and earn around $51,303 a decade out. That earnings figure clears the debt load, so the overall return works, but the margins are thin and depend heavily on what you study and whether you finish.

Business is where the money is here. A general business degree pays close to $48,000, and marketing follows at about $42,700 with modest debt near $19,375. If you're aiming for a business track, the numbers line up in your favor.

The teaching programs are a different story. Both education tracks pay in the high $30,000s, and the specific-levels-and-methods program carries about $25,609 in debt against roughly $37,000 in early earnings. That's a tight ratio. Nebraska needs teachers, so the jobs exist, but the pay ceiling is low and your debt eats into it for years. Sociology is weaker still at around $32,000, the lowest of the listed majors.

The biggest financial risk is not finishing. Only about half of you graduate, and retention after the first year sits under 68 percent. If you leave with debt and no degree, none of the earnings figures apply to you, and that's the worst outcome this school can produce.

On price by income: aid compresses the cost sharply at the bottom. If your family earns under $30,000, you pay several thousand less than the sticker net price, while families over $110,000 pay the most. The tiers stay flat until roughly the $75,000 mark, then climb.

Hastings fits you if you're studying business, willing to finish, and value a small private campus. If you want to teach or major in sociology, weigh the debt carefully against starting pay before committing.