Public · Community college

Northwood Technical College

Rice Lake, Wisconsin · Remote town

#4 best value in Wisconsin

7%
Transfer rate: $8,989
Avg net price: 56%
Grad / completion: $43,406
Median earnings

Northwood Technical College is a public certificate-granting institution in Rice Lake, Wisconsin (remote town setting), enrolling 2,149 undergraduates. Admission is open to all applicants.

PublicMidsize · 2,149 undergradsRemote townCold wintersSnowy

About Rice Lake, Wisconsin

Rice Lake is a city in Barron County in northwestern Wisconsin, United States, on the shore of the lake with the same name. American Indians lived around Rice Lake for millennia, some of whom made mounds like those that remain in Indian Mounds Park along the shore of the lake. Rice Lake serves as a shopping, industrial, educational, and medical hub for the surrounding rural communities of Barron, Cameron, Chetek, Shell Lake, Cumberland, Spooner, and Ladysmith. (Wikipedia)

Setting: Remote town
Highest degree offered: Associate
Nearest big city: 82 miles to Minneapolis, MN
To Great Lakes shore: 84 miles
Nearest airport: 44 miles to Chippewa Valley (EAU)

How Northwood Technical College compares

Graduation rate56%

Higher than 44% · #19 of 40 in Wisconsin

First-year retention80%

Higher than 63%

Earnings, 10 years after entry$43,406

Higher than 80% · #12 of 40 in Wisconsin

Average net price$8,989

Cheaper than 75% · #4 cheapest of 38 in Wisconsin

Median debt at graduation$8,250

Lower than 71%

Student–faculty ratio8 : 1

Lower than 89%

Undergraduate enrollment2,149

Larger than 82%

Percentiles compare Northwood Technical College with the nation's 3,519 two-year and certificate schools, among schools reporting each statistic. State ranks count two-year and certificate schools in Wisconsin.

Student body

Undergraduates by gender

Women1,28760%
Men86240%

Undergraduates by race / ethnicity

White85%
Black2.4%
Hispanic3.7%
Asian1.1%
Other or multiracial7.5%

Graduate gender splits aren't published in this data, so the gender chart covers undergraduates only.

By the numbers

Undergraduate enrollment: 2,149
Student–faculty ratio: 8 : 1
Pell Grant recipients: 31%
First-generation students: 42%
Students over 25: 39%
Median family income: $30,123
Avg faculty salary (academic year): $79,308
Endowment: $5,840,893

Colleges don't publish true class-size data; student–faculty ratio (IPEDS) is the closest public measure of it.

Cost

In-state tuition: $4,926
Out-of-state tuition: $7,169
Room & board: —
Books & supplies: $1,465
Total cost of attendance: $14,981
Average net price: $8,989

Outcomes

Graduated: 56%
First-year retention: 80%
Transferred to another college: 7%
Median earnings, 6 years after entry: $42,439
Median earnings, 10 years after entry: $43,406
Median debt at graduation: $8,250
Students with federal loans: 24%
Paying down their loans (1 year in): 54%

Graduating on time

By student background (4 years)

All students

56%

Low-income (Pell)

55%

First-generation

55%

When these bars run close together, students from every background tend to finish at similar rates — a sign the school supports the ~30% who are first-gen or low-income.

Campus life & athletics

On-campus housing: No
Application fee: Free

Campus safety

Safety grade: A
Reported offenses per 1,000 students: 0.0 / year
Violent offenses (2022–2024): 0
Property offenses (2022–2024): 0

What you'll actually pay, by family income

Average net price (total cost minus grants and scholarships) paid by aided students in each family-income band.

< $30k

$6,515

$30–48k

$7,601

$48–75k

$9,154

$75–110k

$11,957

$110k+

$14,726

College Scorecard / IPEDS, most recent year. Family income is total household income; net price covers tuition, fees, room, board and supplies after grant aid, for students receiving federal aid.

Does the school pay you to attend?

Grant aid from the school's own funds — the discount off sticker, on top of any federal or state help.

14%

of first-years get a grant from the school

$617

average award, among those who get one

Modest institutional aid: 14% of freshmen get a grant from the school, averaging $617. Most of what lowers the price here is federal or state money, not the school's own funds.

Blends need-based and merit aid — IPEDS doesn't split the two, so a high number can mean generous merit scholarships, deep need-based aid, or both. Figures cover 275 full-time first-year undergraduates, 2022–23. Source: IPEDS Student Financial Aid.

Is it worth it?

A rough return-on-investment read from what graduates earn versus what they borrow.

Median earnings (10 years): $43,406
Typical debt at graduation: $8,250
Debt vs. one year's pay: 19%
Out-earn a HS grad: 53%

Typical debt would take roughly 1.9 years to repay at about a tenth of median earnings.

Solid value

A reasonable return: earnings comfortably clear the debt over a few years for most students who finish.

Earnings are the College Scorecard median for former students (working, not enrolled) 10 years after entry — not a guarantee, and they vary a lot by major. Debt is the median federal loan balance at graduation.

The pay gap here

Median earnings 10 years after entry, split by gender.

Women

$37,579

Men

$51,929

Men out-earn women by $14,350 (38%) a decade out.

Federal figures for former students working and not enrolled, 10 years after they first entered. A gap this wide usually reflects which majors men and women here tend to choose — not different pay for the same job.

Campus climate

Summer high: 81°F
Winter low: 2°F
Annual rain: 31.4″
Annual snow: 52.5″

Average temperature

HighLow

Average precipitation (inches)

NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals, Rice Lake, WI US station (4.6 mi from campus).

What Northwood Technical College graduates study — and earn

Precision Metal WorkingCert.

435 grads$42k 1 yr$51k 5 yr$6k debt

435$42,282$51,373$5,500 Practical Nursing, Vocational Nursing and Nursing AssistantsCert.

297 grads$26k 1 yr$58k 5 yr$8k debt

297$26,492$57,622$8,312 Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment ProfessionsCert.

79 grads$44k 1 yr— 5 yr$12k debt

79$43,765—$12,000 Human Development, Family Studies, and Related ServicesCert.

75 grads$23k 1 yr— 5 yr$12k debt

75$23,210—$12,000 Accounting and Related ServicesCert.

74 grads$31k 1 yr$40k 5 yr$13k debt

74$30,586$39,589$12,751 Health and Medical Administrative ServicesCert.

73 grads$36k 1 yr$35k 5 yr$11k debt

73$35,796$34,744$10,534 Teaching Assistants/AidesCert.

68 grads— 1 yr— 5 yr— debt

68———Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical NursingAssoc.

67 grads$64k 1 yr$69k 5 yr$17k debt

67$64,281$68,980$17,499 Heating, Air Conditioning, Ventilation and Refrigeration Maintenance Technology/Technician (HAC, HACR, HVAC, HVACR)Cert.

56 grads— 1 yr— 5 yr— debt

56———Ground TransportationCert.

54 grads— 1 yr— 5 yr— debt

54———Mental and Social Health Services and Allied ProfessionsCert.

51 grads— 1 yr— 5 yr$11k debt

51——$11,000 Cosmetology and Related Personal Grooming ServicesCert.

43 grads$18k 1 yr$27k 5 yr$6k debt

43$18,294$27,307$5,500

Median earnings of this school's own graduates 1 and 5 years after finishing each program, and median federal-loan debt at completion (College Scorecard). Small programs are privacy-suppressed (—). Click a major to compare colleges nationally.

Colleges similar to Northwood Technical College

Schools with a comparable profile — size, selectivity, cost, and graduate outcomes. Compare Northwood Technical College side by side →

Moraine Park Technical College

Public

Fond du Lac, Wisconsin · Small city · 54 mi to Green Bay

Students: 2,464
Tuition: $5k
Transfer: 7%
Earnings: $44k

Blackhawk Technical College

Public

Janesville, Wisconsin · Small suburb · 23 mi to Rockford

Students: 2,488
Tuition: $4k
Transfer: 5%
Earnings: $42k

Mid-State Technical College

Public

Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin · Distant town · 88 mi to Green Bay

Students: 2,288
Tuition: $5k
Transfer: 3%
Earnings: $42k

Lakeshore Technical College

Public

Cleveland, Wisconsin · Distant rural · 43 mi to Green Bay

Students: 1,886
Tuition: $5k
Transfer: 8%
Earnings: $47k

Northcentral Technical College

Public

Wausau, Wisconsin · Small city · 87 mi to Green Bay

Students: 3,257
Tuition: $5k
Transfer: 7%
Earnings: $45k

Western Technical College

Public

La Crosse, Wisconsin · Small city · 106 mi to Madison

Students: 3,183
Tuition: $5k
Transfer: 18%
Earnings: $45k

Colleges near Northwood Technical College

Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe University

Hayward, WI · Public · Associate · 176 students

37 mi

University of Wisconsin-Stout

Menomonie, WI · Public · Bachelor's · 5,842 students

43 mi

University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire

Eau Claire, WI · Public · Bachelor's · 8,895 students

49 mi

Chippewa Valley Technical College

Eau Claire, WI · Public · Certificate · 4,272 students

49 mi

The Professional Hair Design Academy

Eau Claire, WI · Private for-profit · Certificate · 60 students

50 mi

Hazelden Betty Ford Graduate School

Center City, MN · Private nonprofit · Graduate

52 mi

University of Wisconsin-River Falls

River Falls, WI · Public · Bachelor's · 4,205 students

61 mi

Pine Technical & Community College

Pine City, MN · Public · Certificate · 574 students

63 mi

Source: US Department of Education College Scorecard (most recent cohorts), IPEDS institutional characteristics, Equity in Athletics (EADA) data, Clery Act Campus Safety and Security data, and NOAA US Climate Normals. Distances are straight-line from campus coordinates. Percentiles compare schools of the same level (four-year vs. two-year) that report each statistic.