Is Three Rivers College Worth It?

Three Rivers College gives you a mixed financial picture that hinges almost entirely on one field. Median earnings ten years out land below what many two-year graduates make, but the median debt of $10,000 keeps your downside contained. The gap between programs here is wide enough that your major, not the school, decides your return.

Nursing is where the money is. The associate nursing degree pays roughly double what the general studies track does, and it carries the earnings weight for the whole college. If you finish nursing, you take on more debt than average here, but the paycheck justifies it. The practical nursing certificate is the next-best bet and costs you less time.

Everything else looks weak. Business operations support and the liberal arts/general studies path both land under $25,000 a year a decade later. Liberal arts carries lighter debt, but you are borrowing to reach earnings that barely clear entry-level wages. If you enroll in general studies planning to stop there, the numbers do not work.

The biggest risk is the 34.5% graduation rate. Most people who start here do not finish, and if you drop out you keep the debt without the nursing salary that makes the debt worth it. Your return depends on completing, and the odds of that are not in your favor.

Net price barely moves with income, from about $9,300 for families under $30k to $12,600 for those over $110k. Lower-income families get only a modest break, so plan on paying close to the sticker figure regardless of what you earn.

This school fits you if you are committed to nursing and confident you will graduate. Look elsewhere if you want a general associate degree as your endpoint or if finishing is uncertain.