How this school serves students from different economic backgrounds, including Pell students, first-generation pathways, and long-term mobility outcomes.
Dalton State College admits a broad share of applicants, reflecting its mission as a regional public institution serving northwest Georgia. Among enrolled undergraduates, 49.9% receive Pell Grants and 51.2% are first-generation college students — figures that place the college firmly in the broad-access tier of American higher education. Transfer enrollment is meaningful at 34.3%, underscoring the college's role as a destination for students who begin elsewhere and continue their education closer to home. Azimuth ranks Dalton State College #110 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions. That standing reflects the scale at which Dalton State serves students from Pell-eligible and first-generation backgrounds, a population that many institutions with stronger mobility outcomes reach in far smaller numbers. Freshman retention is 70.9%, and the six-year graduation rate is 25.3%, with 29.5% of Pell-eligible students completing within the same window — a completion pattern that shapes how broadly the institution's mobility outcomes are distributed across its student body. Azimuth ranks Dalton State College #648 for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions. Median earnings for low-income graduates reach $32,100 on a historical ten-year Scorecard measure, placing this cohort in the 5.7 percentile for low-income graduate median earnings among nonprofit four-year institutions. As Azimuth's analysis of access and mobility patterns notes, the distance between what an institution's outcomes show it could deliver and what its enrollment volume actually delivers is the structural measure of mobility impact — and for Dalton State, the breadth of its Pell and first-generation enrollment means that even modest per-student earnings gains aggregate across a large share of the student body.
Dalton State College admits a broad share of applicants, reflecting its mission as a regional public institution serving northwest Georgia. Among enrolled undergraduates, 49.9% receive Pell Grants and 51.2% are first-generation college students — figures that place the college firmly in the broad-access tier of American higher education. Transfer enrollment is meaningful at 34.3%, underscoring the college's role as a destination for students who begin elsewhere and continue their education closer to home. Azimuth ranks Dalton State College #110 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions. That standing reflects the scale at which Dalton State serves students from Pell-eligible and first-generation backgrounds, a population that many institutions with stronger mobility outcomes reach in far smaller numbers. Freshman retention is 70.9%, and the six-year graduation rate is 25.3%, with 29.5% of Pell-eligible students completing within the same window — a completion pattern that shapes how broadly the institution's mobility outcomes are distributed across its student body. Azimuth ranks Dalton State College #648 for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions. Median earnings for low-income graduates reach $32,100 on a historical ten-year Scorecard measure, placing this cohort in the 5.7 percentile for low-income graduate median earnings among nonprofit four-year institutions. As Azimuth's analysis of access and mobility patterns notes, the distance between what an institution's outcomes show it could deliver and what its enrollment volume actually delivers is the structural measure of mobility impact — and for Dalton State, the breadth of its Pell and first-generation enrollment means that even modest per-student earnings gains aggregate across a large share of the student body.
Dalton State College admits a broad share of applicants, reflecting its mission as a regional public institution serving northwest Georgia. Among enrolled undergraduates, 49.9% receive Pell Grants and 51.2% are first-generation college students — figures that place the college firmly in the broad-access tier of American higher education. Transfer enrollment is meaningful at 34.3%, underscoring the college's role as a destination for students who begin elsewhere and continue their education closer to home. Azimuth ranks Dalton State College #110 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions. That standing reflects the scale at which Dalton State serves students from Pell-eligible and first-generation backgrounds, a population that many institutions with stronger mobility outcomes reach in far smaller numbers. Freshman retention is 70.9%, and the six-year graduation rate is 25.3%, with 29.5% of Pell-eligible students completing within the same window — a completion pattern that shapes how broadly the institution's mobility outcomes are distributed across its student body. Azimuth ranks Dalton State College #648 for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions. Median earnings for low-income graduates reach $32,100 on a historical ten-year Scorecard measure, placing this cohort in the 5.7 percentile for low-income graduate median earnings among nonprofit four-year institutions. As Azimuth's analysis of access and mobility patterns notes, the distance between what an institution's outcomes show it could deliver and what its enrollment volume actually delivers is the structural measure of mobility impact — and for Dalton State, the breadth of its Pell and first-generation enrollment means that even modest per-student earnings gains aggregate across a large share of the student body.
