Chattanooga State
Community College
Public Community College in Chattanooga, TN. Six-year graduation rate 26%. Median 10-year earnings $37,598.
Ten-year median earnings of $37,598 are on the low side, which raises the bar for what this degree needs to cost. The six-year graduation rate is 26% — low enough that finishing cannot be treated as the default outcome. Borrowing stays contained, with median debt at graduation of $10,419.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.28 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Graduation rate 26% — below national average
Academics
Only 26% finish within six years, so roughly three in four students leave without the credential. Just 57% of first-years come back — most of the completion gap opens in year one. That gap between coming back and finishing is where this school loses people — after the first year, not during it. 14% transfer out. IPEDS does not follow them, so whether they finished elsewhere is not recorded either way. Retention drops to 27% for part-time students, a gap worth weighing if full-time study is not realistic.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 4,689 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
At $5,908 a year on average after grant aid, cost is low here relative to most undergraduate institutions. Income makes less difference than usual: $4,369 at $0–30k, $7,201 at $110k+. 81% of students receive grant aid, averaging $6,012 — common but not automatic. 19% borrow federally — a low rate, though it covers federal loans only.
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 · 1,168 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 | $4,369 |
| $30–48k | $4,920 |
| $48–75k | $6,708 |
| $75–110k | $8,002 |
| $110k+ | $7,201 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 875 of these 4,689 students, totalling $5,675,346 — an average of $6,486 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Hamilton 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)