Chief Dull
Knife College
Public Community College in Lame Deer, MT. Median 10-year earnings $20,073.
Median earnings ten years after entry come to $20,073, below what most undergraduate institutions return — the central fact to weigh against cost here. Only 0% finish within six years, so roughly nine in ten students leave without the credential they enrolled for.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
Academics
Only 0% finish within six years, so roughly nine in ten students leave without the credential. First-year retention is 64% — the single largest point of attrition on this campus. Retention runs well ahead of completion, which means students are not leaving immediately; they are leaving somewhere between the second year and the finish line. At 13:1, students get materially more instructor contact than at a typical public university. As a public community college, the relevant comparison is other two-year schools rather than the national average across all institutions.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 235 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price is $9,623 a year after grant aid — low for a four-year institution, though your own figure depends on aid eligibility. The gap between the $0–30k and $48–75k bands is narrow ($13,940 versus $14,361), meaning aid is not strongly need-weighted. Grant aid is limited — 40% of students receive any.
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 · 11 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 | $13,940 |
| $30–48k | — |
| $48–75k | $14,361 |
| $75–110k | — |
| $110k+ | — |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Rosebud 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)