Arkansas State
University Three Rivers
Public Community College in Malvern, AR. Six-year graduation rate 26%. Median 10-year earnings $37,374.
Median earnings ten years after entry come to $37,374, below what most undergraduate institutions return — the central fact to weigh against cost here. The six-year graduation rate is 26% — low enough that finishing cannot be treated as the default outcome. Graduates leave owing a median of $10,250 — modest by four-year standards.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.27 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Mobility score 0.5 — limited economic uplift documented
- ! Graduation rate 26% — below national average
Academics
Completion is the problem here: 26% graduate within six years. Retention is weak: only 54% of full-time first-years return, so roughly one in two leave after one year. That gap between coming back and finishing is where this school loses people — after the first year, not during it. The 13:1 student-faculty ratio is small enough that seminar-sized classes are the norm. This is a public community college, so read every rate on this page against that peer group specifically.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 514 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
At $7,112 a year on average after grant aid, cost is low here relative to most undergraduate institutions. The gap between the $0–30k and $110k+ bands is narrow ($8,070 versus $12,748), meaning aid is not strongly need-weighted. 74% of students receive grant aid, averaging $5,890 — common but not automatic. 77% of students borrow federally, so debt is the norm rather than the exception.
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 · 125 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 | $8,070 |
| $30–48k | — |
| $48–75k | $12,748 |
| $75–110k | — |
| $110k+ | $12,748 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 398 of these 514 students, totalling $1,358,920 — an average of $3,414 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Hot Spring 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)