City Colleges
of Chicago-Harold Washington College
Public Community College in Chicago, IL. Six-year graduation rate 26%. Median 10-year earnings $36,531.
Median earnings ten years after entry come to $36,531, below what most undergraduate institutions return — the central fact to weigh against cost here. Completion is the weak point: 26% graduate within six years. Median debt at graduation is $5,750, 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 0.16 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Graduation rate 26% — below national average
Academics
A six-year graduation rate of 26% means finishing is closer to the exception than the rule. Just 59% 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. 13% transfer out. IPEDS does not follow them, so whether they finished elsewhere is not recorded either way. Part-time students fare worse, returning at 44% — relevant if you plan to work while enrolled.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 4,146 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price is $8,156 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: $6,911 at $0–30k, $11,657 at $110k+. 56% of students receive grant aid, averaging $5,623 — common but not automatic. Federal borrowing is uncommon here at 3% of students.
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 · 505 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 | $6,911 |
| $30–48k | $6,728 |
| $48–75k | $9,347 |
| $75–110k | $9,922 |
| $110k+ | $11,657 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 137 of these 4,146 students, totalling $748,110 — an average of $5,461 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Cook 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)