Central Lakes College-Brainerd
Public Community College in Brainerd, MN. Six-year graduation rate 53%. Median 10-year earnings $42,162.
Ten years after entry, the median Central Lakes College-Brainerd student earns $42,162 — a solidly middle-of-the-pack result for an undergraduate institution. The six-year graduation rate is 53%, meaning about one in two students who start do not finish. Median debt at graduation is $11,000, a light load against those earnings.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.26 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Academics
53% graduate within six years — average, but that average still hides a large group who do not. 69% of full-time first-years come back for year two, so about one in three are gone before sophomore year. Retention and graduation track closely, so most of the attrition shows up in the first year rather than after it. 13% transfer out. IPEDS does not follow them, so whether they finished elsewhere is not recorded either way. The part-time picture is harder: 40% return, against 69% full-time.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,486 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price is $13,691 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: $12,264 at $0–30k, $18,686 at $110k+. Grant aid reaches 77% of students at an average of $5,317. About 36% borrow federally, roughly the national pattern.
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 · 388 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 | $12,264 |
| $30–48k | $10,454 |
| $48–75k | $12,970 |
| $75–110k | $15,489 |
| $110k+ | $18,686 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 542 of these 1,486 students, totalling $3,205,844 — an average of $5,915 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Crow Wing 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)