Arapahoe Community College
Public Community College in Littleton, CO. Six-year graduation rate 29%. Median 10-year earnings $48,341.
Students who entered Arapahoe Community College land at a median of $48,341 a decade later, close to what most four-year schools deliver. Completion is the weak point: 29% graduate within six years. Borrowing stays contained, with median debt at graduation of $11,884.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.25 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Mobility score 0.9 — limited economic uplift documented
- ! Graduation rate 29% — below national average
Academics
A six-year graduation rate of 29% means finishing is closer to the exception than the rule. 40% of students transfer out, which reframes what the graduation rate above is measuring. A 26:1 ratio means students need to be deliberate about getting faculty time. Judge these figures against other institutions of the same type — sector explains more of the variation in completion than any single campus factor. With 13,978 undergraduates, this is a large institution — expect the administrative scale and the range of offerings that come with it.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 5,389 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
At $10,332 a year on average after grant aid, cost is low here relative to most undergraduate institutions. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $8,588 while those at $110k+ pay $18,077. 35% get grants, which means the net price above will not apply to most applicants. Only 20% take federal loans. Private borrowing is not captured in this figure.
Entering first-year students
A different, smaller group than the rates above: full-time students in their first year of college anywhere. The grant series here also excludes the "other sources" counted in the all-undergraduate figure, so the two are not comparable.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 534 students
Net price by family income
The same students as the headline above, limited to those who received Title IV federal aid — a narrower group, with a lower overall average. IPEDS publishes no combined figure across these bands, so they should not be averaged into one.
| Family income band | Average net price |
|---|---|
| $0–30k | $8,588 |
| $30–48k | $9,523 |
| $48–75k | $10,868 |
| $75–110k | $15,437 |
| $110k+ | $18,077 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 1,088 of these 5,389 students, totalling $6,514,061 — an average of $5,987 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Arapahoe County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)