Community College
of Philadelphia
Public Community College in Philadelphia, PA. Six-year graduation rate 24%. Median 10-year earnings $40,852.
Ten-year median earnings of $40,852 are on the low side, which raises the bar for what this degree needs to cost. The six-year graduation rate is 24% — low enough that finishing cannot be treated as the default outcome. Graduates leave owing a median of $10,750 — modest by four-year standards. On economic mobility, 2.8% of students travel from the bottom income quintile to the top.
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 24% — below national average
Academics
A six-year graduation rate of 24% means finishing is closer to the exception than the rule. First-year retention is 60% — the single largest point of attrition on this campus. That gap between coming back and finishing is where this school loses people — after the first year, not during it. 12% transfer out. IPEDS does not follow them, so whether they finished elsewhere is not recorded either way. Retention drops to 40% 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 11,312 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $11,148 annually, well below typical undergraduate net price. The income table below is the number that matters — $10,728 at $0–30k versus $18,795 at $110k+. Grant aid reaches 69% of students at an average of $5,335. About 32% borrow federally, roughly the national pattern.
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 · 1,467 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 | $10,728 |
| $30–48k | $11,339 |
| $48–75k | $13,144 |
| $75–110k | $17,032 |
| $110k+ | $18,795 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 3,625 of these 11,312 students, totalling $23,294,924 — an average of $6,426 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Philadelphia 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)