undergradly.
Public Community College

City Colleges
of Chicago-Olive-Harvey College

Public Community College in Chicago, IL. Six-year graduation rate 21%. Median 10-year earnings $31,114.

Verdict Mixed outcomes
City Colleges of Chicago-Olive-Harvey College · Campus
Median earnings · 10 yr
$31,114
Median debt at grad
$7,646
Graduation rate
21.2%
Federal loan default
0%

Students who entered City Colleges of Chicago-Olive-Harvey College reach a median of $31,114 a decade later, a figure that trails the typical four-year outcome. The six-year graduation rate is 21% — low enough that finishing cannot be treated as the default outcome. Graduates leave owing a median of $7,646 — modest by four-year standards.

Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.

Green Flags
  • Debt-to-income ratio 0.25 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
  • 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Red Flags
  • ! Graduation rate 21% — below national average

Academics

Full-time retention
44%
Transfer-out rate
20%
Student:faculty
26:1

Only 21% finish within six years, so roughly four in five students leave without the credential. Retention is weak: only 44% of full-time first-years return, so roughly three in five leave after one year. The two rates sit near each other: few students who return for a second year are missing from the six-year completion figure. 20% transfer out. IPEDS does not follow them, so whether they finished elsewhere is not recorded either way. At 26:1, instructor access is thin — worth probing on a campus visit.

Financial Aid

Average net price
$9,209
Full-time, first-time undergraduates paying the in-state rate who were awarded grant or scholarship aid
% receiving grants
69%
degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
% receiving federal loans
6%
degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,425 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates

Average net price is $9,209 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: $8,527 at $0–30k, $10,119 at $110k+. Grant aid reaches 69% of students at an average of $5,682. Federal borrowing is uncommon here at 6% 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.

% receiving grants
79%
Average grant
$6,505

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 200 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 $8,527
$30–48k $7,373
$48–75k $10,607
$75–110k $14,177
$110k+ $10,119

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24

Federal student loans went to 85 of these 1,425 students, totalling $512,573 — an average of $6,030 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.

Studio
$1,480/mo
1 bedroom
$1,581/mo
2 bedroom (whole unit)
$1,781/mo

HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026

Veterans & GI Bill

GI Bill students
84
Yellow Ribbon
No
Principles of Excellence
Yes

VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)

Compare City Colleges of Chicago-Olive-Harvey College with peer institutions

How we evaluate City Colleges of Chicago-Olive-Harvey College

IPEDS
US Department of Education
College Scorecard
Post-grad earnings
Census PSEO
Earnings by major
Opportunity Insights
Mobility by institution
Read our full methodology →