College Azimuth

Research brief & institution hub

Carthage College

WIMedium private nonprofit institution · Overall rank #1158 nationally

Data snapshot Updated

Azimuth’s overall standing is the 21st percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Who it’s a good fit for

Carthage College is a private nonprofit university in Kenosha, Wisconsin, where Business and Health Professions lead the degree mix. Return is around the average.

Graduates earn less than predicts for students like them. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures adds to expected earnings, while the part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts from them.

Aid recipients at the lowest income band pay less than the published cost, while those at the highest pay closer to it. What the typical aid recipient pays after grants and scholarships sits below the median at comparable institutions.

The admission rate is above the median for comparable schools, and most graduates are estimated to enter the workforce directly rather than continue to graduate study. Return is the strongest and is around the average, while affordability is the weakest and is below the levels seen at many peers.

Carthage College at a glance

Admissions and outcomes

Admission rate[1]
87.1%
Six-year completion[2]
64.3%
Four-year earnings[3]
$59,751

Cost and family borrowing

Average annual net price · $48–75K family income[6]
$22,427
Median student debt[4]
$26,000
Median Parent PLUS debt[7]
$42,940

Carthage College rankings: how Azimuth assesses value[5]

2,660 undergraduates attend Carthage College, a private nonprofit university located in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Among 1,467 nonprofit four-year institutions, the college lands in the lower fifth of the ranking (21st percentile).

Carthage College admits 87.1% of those who apply, against a peer median of 71.2% for comparable institutions of the same type and size. First-year retention is 73.4%, compared with a peer median of 83.4%.

The six-year graduation rate for the first-time full-time cohort is 64.3%, against a peer median of 68.8%. An estimated 11.7% of entrants arrive as transfers or part-time students, so that graduation rate describes a majority of the student body but not everyone who studies here.

Return is the strongest of the four pillars (51st percentile), while affordability is the weakest (17th percentile). Access and mobility sit between them, at the 33rd and 19th percentiles respectively, and the four are spread across a wide range. The gap between return and the other three is the defining shape.

Return is the strongest part of Carthage College’s profile, although affordability and mobility warrant more caution. Azimuth places return in the 51st percentile and access in the 33rd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Mobility is in the 19th percentile, while affordability, the weakest pillar, is in the 17th percentile.

Enrolled students who submitted ACT scores landed in a middle half of 20 to 25. The share of undergraduates receiving Pell Grants is 27.1%, the financial-access measure tracked here.

Those Pell recipients finish within six years at 56.3%, a figure that sits 8.0 percentage points below the overall cohort rate (64.3%). Azimuth ranks Carthage College #986 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions.

That rank sits alongside the gap between Pell completion and the rate for the entering cohort as a whole. For mobility, Azimuth ranks the college #1,191 among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $5,999 less than the model expects for similar students.

How value-added outcomes are assessed · How to interpret program rankings

Carthage College rankings in context
GeographyRank
National#1,158

Azimuth overall value rankings within each geographic comparison group.

National pillar percentiles

Economic mobility
National percentile: 19
Access & reach
National percentile: 33
Affordability
National percentile: 17
Return on investment
National percentile: 51

01 / Carthage College briefing

Carthage College cost & financial aid[6][7]

Carthage College has a published annual cost of $50,822 (an average across living arrangements), and the average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $26,565. Tuition and fees account for $38,750, with room and board listed at $13,450.

Average aid reduces the published cost by $24,257. The net price is an average across aid recipients, not an estimate of any single family’s bill.

At comparable institutions (same type and size), the peer median net price is $27,371; Carthage College is below that benchmark by $806. Azimuth places its affordability pillar in the 17th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The remains above the peer benchmark even after aid.

For families receiving aid, the remaining price stays substantial across every family-income band. Carthage College lists a published cost of attendance of $50,822 (an average across living arrangements).

Average net price is $23,293 in the lowest family-income band, $23,630 in the next band, $22,427 in the middle band, $24,995 in the next-highest band, and $29,176 in the highest band. The spread between the lowest and highest bands is $5,883.

Azimuth ranks the college #1,168 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions. Aid offsets nearly half of the published price for the average aid recipient, yet the remaining average cost is slightly higher than at comparable schools.

Aid covers about 48% of the published cost for the average aid recipient, a savings of $24,257 against the sticker price. The average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $26,565 across all aid recipients.

That is $806 below the peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), of $27,371. Published tuition and fees are $38,750.

Borrowing is common among Carthage College completers, and its typical federal debt sits above the comparable-school midpoint. Among federal-loan borrowers who completed, median federal student loan debt is $26,000, while 96.5% of federal aid recipients borrow federal loans.

That median is $1,801 above the $24,199 peer median for comparable institutions (same type and size). That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $295 a month if repaid over ten years.

Parent PLUS borrowers have median borrowing of $42,940.

Your family income

Choose a household income range to see estimated net price.

Reported average annual net price · $48–75K$22,427

After grants and scholarships. Your aid offer may differ.

Averages within each income band; individual aid packages vary.

Borrowing and repayment at Carthage College

Federal borrowing is widespread at Carthage College, with 96.5% of federal aid recipients taking federal loans. Among completers who borrowed, median federal student loan debt at completion is $26,000.

The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $24,199. Carthage’s median is $1,801 above that figure, so its typical federal borrower debt is somewhat higher than the comparable-school middle value.

Parent PLUS borrowers are a separate parent-borrower population, with median borrowing of $42,940.

Carthage College’s return picture is mixed, with median earnings of $59,751 four years after completion. Azimuth places that earnings figure in the 50th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students: Graduates earn about $5,999 less than the model expects for similar students. Azimuth places that measure in the 32nd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Earnings scenarios range from $50,506 in the downside scenario to $84,854 in the upside scenario, with $59,751 as the typical scenario. Median federal student loan debt at completion is $26,000, which is $1,801 above the peer median of $24,199 at comparable institutions (same type and size).

That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $295 a month if repaid over ten years. Earnings sit near the middle of the national distribution, but both the model comparison and debt comparison are less favorable.

Parent borrowers have median Parent PLUS borrowing of $42,940, a separate population from student federal-loan borrowers. For student borrowers, that debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $295 a month if repaid over ten years.

How Financial GPS measures payment burden · The four risk-and-reward zones

Financial GPS

What does repayment look like?

Institution median student debt
$26,000
Institution Parent PLUS debt
$42,940

Federal loans only; private or institutional loans aren’t included.

Estimated student payment · monthly
$295/mo
Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly
$546/mo

Payments use school-wide median balances, not a specific major’s.

Payment assumptions

Payments are 10-year standard payments on the median balance, before loan fees, used as a yardstick. Rates for newly issued loans may differ, and loans made after July 1, 2026 can repay over a longer term; existing loans keep their original fixed rates.

Explore your own numbers in Financial GPS
Read the full cost & aid brief

02 / Carthage College briefing

Carthage College career outcomes & earnings[3][8][9]

Four years after completing a degree, federally aided graduates who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $59,751. That figure is $8,499 below the $68,250 median for comparable institutions (same type and size), and sits in the 50th percentile.

Graduates earn about $5,999 less than the model expects for similar students, placing that gap at the 32nd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Azimuth places the return pillar at the 51st percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $6,067. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $12,066. Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $1,198.

At Carthage College, federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled have median earnings of $59,751 four years after completion. Drawn from an earnings cohort of 747 completers, that measure falls in the 50th percentile nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions, according to Azimuth.

Graduates earn about $5,999 less than the model expects for similar students. The program-mix model sets a typical earnings scenario at $59,751, alongside a downside scenario of $50,506 and an upside scenario of $84,854.

It also estimates that 29.9% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure estimated from the program mix. The typical scenario matches the observed median, but the model comparison is less favorable.

Four years after completing a degree, federally aided graduates who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $59,751, a figure at the 50th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $68,250, leaving the university $8,499 below that benchmark.

Azimuth ranks Carthage College #722 for return. Graduates earn about $5,999 less than the model expects for similar students.

That places the gap at the 32nd percentile. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $6,067.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $12,066. Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $1,198.

The program mix is concentrated in business, health professions, and biological sciences. Estimated from that mix, earnings scenarios run from $50,506 on the downside to $84,854 on the upside.

An estimated 29.9% of graduates continue on to graduate study, based on the program mix.

Carthage College has earnings scenarios that differ markedly by field. The downside earnings scenario is $50,506, compared with an upside scenario of $84,854; both are estimated from the program mix rather than observed groups.

All three program medians exceed the upside scenario, so field-level outcomes extend beyond that schoolwide scenario range.

Debt is above the comparable-school benchmark, so the return picture merits close attention at Carthage College. Among borrowers who completed, median federal student loan debt is $26,000.

The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $24,199; the college is above it by $1,801. That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $295 a month if repaid over ten years.

Graduates earn about $5,999 less than the model expects for similar students. Average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $26,565.

By family-income band, average net prices are $23,293 in the lowest band, $23,630 in the next band, $22,427 in the middle band, $24,995 in the next-highest band, and $29,176 in the highest band. Above-peer debt and below-expected earnings point in the same direction.

What explains value-added earnings?
Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.
+$6,067
Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.
-$12,066
Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.
-$5,999

These are statistical model components, not proven causal effects; the remainder is not a direct measure of teaching quality.

Read the full outcomes brief

03 / Carthage College briefing

Carthage College acceptance rate & admissions[1][10][11]

Carthage College admitted 87.1% of applicants, so the published rate describes an admissions outcome that is more open than its comparable-school benchmark. That rate is higher than the median of 71.2% for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Admissions
Admission rate
87.1%
Read the full admissions brief

04 / Carthage College briefing

What are the largest majors at Carthage College?[12]

At Carthage College, program choice makes a marked difference in median earnings four years after completion. Computer and Information Sciences sits at the higher end, with $106,611 in median earnings and 11 degrees awarded.

Finance recorded $86,952 across 26 degrees awarded, while Accounting posted $86,561 and 23 degrees awarded. The larger Psychology program falls at a more moderate level: its median earnings were $54,636 four years after completion, with 44 degrees awarded.

These figures show higher-earning computing, finance, and accounting fields alongside a more moderate-earning psychology field, rather than one uniform earnings picture across programs.

Business accounts for 27.4% of bachelor’s degrees awarded at Carthage College, and published earnings cover 19 bachelor’s programs. The highest-earning field in that set is Computer and Information Sciences, with 11 degrees awarded and median earnings of $106,611 four years after completion.

Accounting had 23 degrees awarded and median earnings of $86,561 four years after completion. The larger Business Administration and Management field awarded 68 degrees, with median earnings of $72,468 at the same point.

These fields show a wide earnings range across programs, even within the school’s prominent business offerings.

Carthage College awards bachelor's degrees across 19 programs with published four-year earnings data. Business is the largest program family, accounting for 27.4% of degrees awarded.

Health Professions and Biological Sciences follow at 9.7% and 8.2%. The largest single program is Business Administration and Management, at 68 degrees awarded a year.

Marketing is nearly as large, with 67 degrees awarded. Psychology rounds out the top three at 44 degrees awarded.

The highest-earning program is a much smaller one. Computer and Information Sciences graduates earn $106,611 four years after completion, from 11 degrees awarded a year.

That is 1.15x the national median for the field. Finance and Accounting follow, with median earnings of $86,952 and $86,561 from 26 and 23 degrees awarded.

The pattern is one of earnings concentrated in business and computing, with the largest programs earning at or above their national benchmarks. 17.3% of degrees awarded are in STEM fields.

Four-year earnings · six largest reported fields
Business Administration, Management and Operations 68 degrees awarded
$72,468
Marketing 67 degrees awarded
$69,045
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing 59 degrees awarded
Too few graduates to report
Psychology, General 44 degrees awarded
$54,636
Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness 34 degrees awarded
$54,832
Criminal Justice and Corrections 32 degrees awarded
$60,633

Fields selected by reported completions. Counts describe credentials awarded, not unique students or the earnings sample. Bars show median four-year earnings.

Read the full majors brief

05 / Carthage College briefing

How does Carthage College serve students from different backgrounds?

Return is Carthage College's strongest measured pillar, but its mobility picture includes a completion gap. For the first-time full-time cohort, the six-year graduation rate is 64.3%, while Pell recipients complete within six years at 56.3%, below the overall rate by 8.0 percentage points.

Azimuth places the mobility pillar in the 19th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $5,999 less than the model expects for similar students.

Earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, is in the 32nd percentile. Below-expected earnings and the completion gap point in the same direction.

Carthage College admits 87.1% of applicants, making entry relatively open for a private nonprofit university. Its undergraduate enrollment is 2,660 undergraduates, with Pell Grants reaching 27.1% of that group and an estimated 11.7% entering as transfers or part-time students.

Azimuth places the access pillar in the 33rd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The admission rate, Pell participation, and transfer estimate describe several routes into the college.

06 / Carthage College briefing

What colleges are similar to Carthage College?[15]

Azimuth groups alternatives by admissions, location, cost and earnings, then orders candidates within each group. Peer earnings use the matched four-year cohort. How matching works.

A shortlist for different decisions

Choose a row to compare the figures with Carthage College.

Admissions peerBenedictine University95.2% admitted
Comparison with Carthage College
MeasureCarthage CollegeBenedictine University
Peer earnings · 4 years$59,751$72,460+$12,709 vs Carthage College
Average annual net price$26,565$22,313-$4,252 vs Carthage College · lower cost
Admission rate87.1%95.2%
Explore Benedictine University →
Higher-admission alternativeRoosevelt University97.2% admitted
Comparison with Carthage College
MeasureCarthage CollegeRoosevelt University
Peer earnings · 4 years$59,751$58,796-$955 vs Carthage College
Average annual net price$26,565$20,194-$6,371 vs Carthage College · lower cost
Admission rate87.1%97.2%
Explore Roosevelt University →
Nearby alternativeWisconsin Lutheran CollegeNearby option · WI
Comparison with Carthage College
MeasureCarthage CollegeWisconsin Lutheran College
Peer earnings · 4 years$59,751$57,728-$2,023 vs Carthage College
Average annual net price$26,565$23,245-$3,320 vs Carthage College · lower cost
Admission rate87.1%78.2%
Higher-earnings alternativeLakeland University$66,716 earnings
Comparison with Carthage College
MeasureCarthage CollegeLakeland University
Peer earnings · 4 years$59,751$66,716+$6,965 vs Carthage College
Average annual net price$26,565$24,212-$2,353 vs Carthage College · lower cost
Admission rate87.1%86.3%
Lower-cost alternativeTrinity International University-Illinois$2,835 average net price
Comparison with Carthage College
MeasureCarthage CollegeTrinity International University-Illinois
Peer earnings · 4 years$59,751$51,985-$7,766 vs Carthage College
Average annual net price$26,565$2,835-$23,730 vs Carthage College · lower cost
Admission rate87.1%100.0%
Similar profileAugustana CollegeMatched across several measures
Comparison with Carthage College
MeasureCarthage CollegeAugustana College
Peer earnings · 4 years$59,751$60,377+$626 vs Carthage College
Average annual net price$26,565$22,736-$3,829 vs Carthage College · lower cost
Admission rate87.1%62.7%
Explore Augustana College →

Each school is the first-ranked match in its category, not a recommendation across every measure. The same college may lead more than one category. Figures use the matching snapshot; earnings reflect the matched four-year cohort. — means unavailable.

Read the full similar schools brief

Data scope & methodology

Structured payloads generated Governed hub narrative Governed spoke corpus

Four-year earnings describe cohorts of completers. Figures for other horizons describe different cohorts and are not joined into a career-growth projection.

Azimuth's overall rank and pillar percentiles come from the school profile. Absolute pillar ranks, city, enrollment and official-site links are shown only when structured data supplies them.

Detailed earnings, cost, admissions and program values come from the endpoint responsible for each measure. Missing values are not replaced with zero. Value-added estimates are model associations, not causal effects.

Figures are refreshed with each data release, at most a quarter apart. The underlying source dates can be earlier than the release.

Explanatory text is AI-assisted drafting checked against those figures; it is not an additional data source.

Analysis and methodology by Daniel Rogers, founder of College Azimuth.

Read the ranking methodology, data definitions and limitations · About College Azimuth

Read the analysis behind value-added earnings and the change to four-year graduate earnings. These articles are published on collegeazimuth.com.

Data notes & source fields

Scorecard field codes identify the underlying measure; Azimuth-derived values are labeled separately. Snapshot dates are not measurement years. Source populations and reporting periods differ across measures. Field definitions are in the U.S. Department of Education · College Scorecard documentation; notes with a different source link it below.

  1. Admission rate. Reported applicants admitted; not a transfer-specific or individual admission probability.

    Source fields: ADM_RATE

  2. Six-year completion. First-time, full-time students completing at the institution within 150% of normal time, typically six years for a bachelor’s degree.

    Source fields: C150_4

  3. Four-year institutional earnings. Median earnings of graduates in the reported cohort who are working and not enrolled, four years after completion.

    Source fields: MD_EARN_WNE_4YR

  4. Median federal student debt. Federal student-loan debt among completers in the reported borrowing cohort. Excludes Parent PLUS and is not total debt across all students.

    Source fields: GRAD_DEBT_MDN

  5. National, regional and state ranks; pillar percentiles; major ranks. Derived scores within the stated eligible comparison set, not raw Scorecard fields. Major ranks compare institutions within a field; their denominators differ.

    Source fields: Azimuth rankings

    College Azimuth · Ranking methodology

  6. Annual net price by family income. Average annual cost after grants and scholarships for the eligible first-time, full-time aid-recipient cohort. Public-school figures reflect in-state tuition. Includes living costs; these are averages, not medians or individual offers.

    Source fields: NPT4_PUB/PRIV; NPT41_PUB/PRIV through NPT45_PUB/PRIV

  7. Parent PLUS debt, payments and GPS illustration. Stored payments use Financial GPS loan and repayment assumptions. The adjustable spectrum applies the published framework to annual student payments divided by earnings minus an expense allowance; its initial allowance is 150% of the federal poverty guideline for one person, for the year the API serves. It is an illustration rather than a school rating. The parent table is the 10-year payment on the median Parent PLUS as a share of household income above 200% of the guideline for a household of three: under 6% Safe, 6–10% Caution, over 10% High pressure. Parent PLUS uses the completer median where available, otherwise the all-borrower median; these describe different borrowing populations.

    Source fields: PLUS_DEBT_ALL_COMP_MD; fallback PLUS_DEBT_ALL_MD; Azimuth Financial GPS calculations

    College Azimuth · Financial GPS methodology

  8. Downside and upside earnings; yellow band. The band spans the modeled lower and higher scenarios. It is not the P25–P75 interval for individual graduates. The median marker is the separately reported institutional median.

    Source fields: Azimuth modeled program-mix scenarios

    College Azimuth · Earnings scenario methodology

  9. Value added and its components. Observed-factor attribution plus the unexplained remainder equals total modeled value added. These are associations, not proven causal effects; the remainder is not a direct measure of teaching quality.

    Source fields: Azimuth statistical model

    College Azimuth · Value-added methodology

  10. SAT score range and reported midpoint. Reported scores of enrolled score-submitters, not admission cutoffs. The midpoint field is not necessarily the middle of the displayed range.

    Source fields: SATVR25 + SATMT25; SATVR75 + SATMT75; SAT_AVG

  11. First-year retention. Retention of the reported full-time cohort at four-year institutions.

    Source fields: RET_FT4

  12. Program earnings, completion counts and major-mix dots. Included bachelor’s programs have at least five reported completions. Counts are aggregated credentials, not unique people or an earnings sample. Major-mix dots group those counts by field of study; excluded programs are not zero activity.

    Source fields: EARN_MDN_4YR; IPEDSCOUNT1; CIPCODE

    College Scorecard · Field-of-study technical documentation

  13. Pell recipients. Share of undergraduates receiving a Pell Grant in the reported academic year.

    Source fields: PCTPELL

  14. Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group. This is not an observed transfer-in rate. It includes part-time entrants and other entering-student attendance patterns.

    Source fields: 1 − PFTFTUG1_EF

  15. Peer earnings and signed differences. Differences are peer minus this school, from the same matching snapshot. A positive earnings difference does not mean the peer is better on every measure.

    Source fields: Azimuth peer model using MD_EARN_WNE_4YR

    College Azimuth · Comparison methodology

How to interpret program rankings