Top Ranked Programs
Dalton State College's program mix is anchored in Business, with applied business and health fields forming the core of its degree output. Across 21 programs serving roughly 495 students annually, 11 meet Azimuth's ranking threshold. The largest programs by cohort size are Teacher Education (91 graduates), Business Administration (85 graduates), and Biology, General (58 graduates), followed by Criminal Justice and Nursing. Business accounts for 31% of graduates, Education represents 18%, and other STEM fields makes up 2% — a concentration that reflects the institution's applied-professional orientation. Nursing delivers the strongest early-career pay, with graduates earning median earnings of $84,253 four years after enrollment; Azimuth ranks the program #278 for median earnings four years after enrollment among nonprofit four-year institutions. Accounting follows with median earnings of $66,902, and Azimuth ranks it #221 for median earnings four years after enrollment among nonprofit four-year institutions. Digital Marketing graduates earn $64,649, while Business Administration and Criminal Justice round out the top earners at $60,331 and $48,341 respectively. Business Administration combines meaningful cohort scale with solid pay, making it a key driver of the institution's overall earnings profile. The program portfolio at Dalton State College tilts toward fields where graduates enter the regional workforce directly — nursing, business administration, and industrial technology are high-mobility pathways tied to local and statewide employer demand. The [supply-demand map for college graduates](/analysis/supply-demand-map-college-degrees/) provides broader context for how these applied fields align with national labor-market trends, and the [program-ranking methodology](/analysis/college-program-rankings-how-to-actually-evaluate-programs/) explains how Azimuth evaluates programs across cohort size, earnings, and benchmark performance. ```