College of DuPage
Public Community College in Glen Ellyn, IL. Six-year graduation rate 25%. Median 10-year earnings $46,909.
Ten years after entry, the median College of DuPage student earns $46,909 — a solidly middle-of-the-pack result for an undergraduate institution. Completion is the weak point: 25% graduate within six years. Graduates leave owing a median of $10,410 — 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 0.22 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Graduation rate 25% — below national average
Academics
A six-year graduation rate of 25% means finishing is closer to the exception than the rule. Retention of 66% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. 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. 27% transfer out. IPEDS does not follow them, so whether they finished elsewhere is not recorded either way. Part-time students fare worse, returning at 52% — relevant if you plan to work while enrolled.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 15,185 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $6,691 annually, well below typical undergraduate net price. The income table below is the number that matters — $4,032 at $0–30k versus $15,308 at $110k+. Grant aid is limited — 42% of students receive any. 15% 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 · 1,989 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 | $4,032 |
| $30–48k | $4,390 |
| $48–75k | $8,431 |
| $75–110k | $12,717 |
| $110k+ | $15,308 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 2,310 of these 15,185 students, totalling $13,824,287 — an average of $5,985 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (DuPage 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)