Coastal Alabama
Community College
Public Community College in Bay Minette, AL. Six-year graduation rate 31%. Median 10-year earnings $34,894.
Ten-year median earnings of $34,894 are on the low side, which raises the bar for what this degree needs to cost. Completion is the weak point: 31% graduate within six years. Median debt at graduation is $11,000, 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 0.32 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Graduation rate 31% — below national average
Academics
Completion is the problem here: 31% graduate within six years. Retention of 62% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. That gap between coming back and finishing is where this school loses people — after the first year, not during it. A 25% 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. Retention drops to 44% 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 4,713 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
At $13,306 a year on average after grant aid, cost is low here relative to most undergraduate institutions. Income makes less difference than usual: $11,916 at $0–30k, $19,588 at $110k+. 76% of students receive grant aid, averaging $7,319 — common but not automatic. Most students borrow — 71% take federal loans to cover the gap.
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 · 1,210 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 | $11,916 |
| $30–48k | $11,904 |
| $48–75k | $15,603 |
| $75–110k | $17,856 |
| $110k+ | $19,588 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 3,354 of these 4,713 students, totalling $9,705,992 — an average of $2,894 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Baldwin 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)