City Colleges
of Chicago-Malcolm X College
Public Community College in Chicago, IL. Six-year graduation rate 18%. Median 10-year earnings $32,427.
Median earnings ten years after entry come to $32,427, below what most undergraduate institutions return — the central fact to weigh against cost here. The six-year graduation rate is 18% — low enough that finishing cannot be treated as the default outcome. Borrowing stays contained, with median debt at graduation of $8,375.
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
- ! Graduation rate 18% — below national average
Academics
Completion is the problem here: 18% graduate within six years. Retention is weak: only 56% of full-time first-years return, so roughly two in five leave after one year. That gap between coming back and finishing is where this school loses people — after the first year, not during it. Transfer-out runs to 13% — common enough at this school that the completion rate is measuring a smaller group than the entering class. Retention drops to 43% 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 5,847 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price is $7,623 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 $110k+ bands is narrow ($6,712 versus $14,355), meaning aid is not strongly need-weighted. About 63% get grants averaging $5,301, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. 4% 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 · 621 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 | $6,712 |
| $30–48k | $6,871 |
| $48–75k | $8,591 |
| $75–110k | $10,176 |
| $110k+ | $14,355 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 223 of these 5,847 students, totalling $1,295,574 — an average of $5,810 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)