Carl Sandburg College
Public Community College in Galesburg, IL. Six-year graduation rate 50%. Median 10-year earnings $35,274.
Median earnings ten years after entry come to $35,274, below what most undergraduate institutions return — the central fact to weigh against cost here. The six-year graduation rate is 50%, meaning about one in two students who start do not finish. Borrowing stays contained, with median debt at graduation of $4,909.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.14 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Academics
50% graduate within six years — average, but that average still hides a large group who do not. Retention of 63% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. Retention and completion are close, which places the gap between entering and finishing almost entirely in year one. Transfer-out runs to 16% — common enough at this school that the completion rate is measuring a smaller group than the entering class. Part-time students fare worse, returning at 41% — relevant if you plan to work while enrolled.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,124 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price is $5,374 a year after grant aid — low for a four-year institution, though your own figure depends on aid eligibility. Income makes less difference than usual: $1,014 at $0–30k, $6,012 at $110k+. Most students get help: 90% receive grants worth $8,923 on average. Only 21% 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 · 232 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 | $1,014 |
| $30–48k | $3,025 |
| $48–75k | $5,074 |
| $75–110k | $5,162 |
| $110k+ | $6,012 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 236 of these 1,124 students, totalling $874,768 — an average of $3,707 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Knox 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)