Chester Career College
For-profit College in CHESTER, VA. Six-year graduation rate 63%. Median 10-year earnings $32,650.
Students who entered Chester Career College reach a median of $32,650 a decade later, a figure that trails the typical four-year outcome. The six-year graduation rate is 63%, meaning about two in five students who start do not finish. Median debt at graduation is $19,879, roughly typical for an undergraduate degree.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Debt-to-income ratio 0.61 — elevated (above 0.60)
Academics
Completion is middling: 63% finish inside six years. 80% of full-time first-years return for a second year — a healthy figure. Retention and graduation track closely, so most of the attrition shows up in the first year rather than after it. A 15:1 ratio points to small classes and accessible faculty. This is a for-profit two-year institution. That is not disqualifying, but it does mean verifying accreditation, transferability of credits, and job-placement claims directly rather than trusting the category.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 317 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price after grant aid is $24,259 a year — mid-range for a four-year institution. The gap between the $0–30k and $75–110k bands is narrow ($23,603 versus $25,433), meaning aid is not strongly need-weighted. 59% of students receive grant aid, averaging $10,713 — common but not automatic. About 50% 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 · 70 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 | $23,603 |
| $30–48k | $26,047 |
| $48–75k | $29,208 |
| $75–110k | $25,433 |
| $110k+ | — |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 160 of these 317 students, totalling $2,239,596 — an average of $13,997 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Chesterfield 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)