Associate's · Muscle Shoals, Alabama

Is Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities at Northwest Shoals Community College worth it?

Medium confidence Medium confidence: 40–99 graduates behind the earnings figures.

The verdict · all families, in-state, half paid with loans

Pays back in time: graduates typically recover the cost in about 3.3 years.

Earnings 1 year after graduating: $26,718; Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Earnings 4 years after graduating: $46,114; Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Typical federal debt at graduation: $7,995; NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
Net cost to graduate, all families: $9k (likely $9k – $12k); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: $12k a year vs high-school graduates aged 25–34 in AL; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: 3.3 years (likely 2.3–4.9); Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: $20k (likely −$26k – $68k); Today's dollars
20-year net return: $179k (likely $75k – $299k); Today's dollars
Odds of finishing (school-wide): 38%; Fall 2019 or AcadYr 2019-20 cohort (differs by institutional calendar), reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26