City Colleges
of Chicago-Wilbur Wright College
Public Community College in Chicago, IL. Six-year graduation rate 31%. Median 10-year earnings $41,625.
Ten-year median earnings of $41,625 are on the low side, which raises the bar for what this degree needs to cost. The six-year graduation rate is 31% — low enough that finishing cannot be treated as the default outcome. Graduates leave owing a median of $6,500 — modest by four-year standards.
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 31% — below national average
Academics
A six-year graduation rate of 31% means finishing is closer to the exception than the rule. 72% of full-time first-years come back for year two, so about one in four are gone before sophomore year. The distance between those two figures is the part worth noticing — students return for a second year at a much higher rate than they graduate, so attrition here is spread across the middle years rather than concentrated in the first. A 15% transfer-out rate accounts for part of that gap: those students left for another institution rather than dropping out, and the graduation rate above counts them as non-completers here.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 4,186 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
At $7,756 a year on average after grant aid, cost is low here relative to most undergraduate institutions. The gap between the $0–30k and $110k+ bands is narrow ($5,645 versus $8,500), meaning aid is not strongly need-weighted. 61% of students receive grant aid, averaging $5,121 — common but not automatic. Only 1% take federal loans. Private borrowing is not captured in this figure.
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 · 717 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 | $5,645 |
| $30–48k | $5,916 |
| $48–75k | $7,930 |
| $75–110k | $9,691 |
| $110k+ | $8,500 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 54 of these 4,186 students, totalling $254,176 — an average of $4,707 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)