Cottey College
Private Community College in Nevada, MO. Six-year graduation rate 64%. Median 10-year earnings $35,422.
Median earnings ten years after entry come to $35,422, below what most undergraduate institutions return — the central fact to weigh against cost here. The six-year graduation rate is 64%, meaning about one in three students who start do not finish. Graduates carry a median of $19,043 in debt — in line with the national norm.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
69% of applicants get in, so the odds favor most reasonably prepared students. With 636 applicants, admissions statistics here move a lot on small changes. 22% of those admitted enroll, which is unremarkable in either direction.
Test score bands (middle 50% of submitters)
These bands describe the enrolled first-years who submitted a score, not the entering class. Where most students apply test-optional the submitters are a self-selected, higher-scoring group.
| Test | 25th–75th percentile | Submitted |
|---|---|---|
| SAT Evidence-Based Reading | — | — |
| SAT Math | — | |
| ACT Composite | — | — |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Cottey College →Academics
64% graduate within six years — average, but that average still hides a large group who do not. Retention of 67% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. A 6:1 ratio points to small classes and accessible faculty. This is a private nonprofit four-year college, so read every rate on this page against that peer group specifically. The undergraduate body is just 266, which shapes everything from class size to how often a required course is offered.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 266 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $14,704 annually, well below typical undergraduate net price. Income makes less difference than usual: $14,093 at $0–30k, $18,130 at $110k+. 100% of students get grant aid averaging $27,228, so the published price is a poor guide to what most pay. 61% of students borrow federally, so debt is the norm rather than the exception.
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 · 65 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 | $14,093 |
| $30–48k | $10,634 |
| $48–75k | $12,063 |
| $75–110k | $15,732 |
| $110k+ | $18,130 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 161 of these 266 students, totalling $1,171,408 — an average of $7,276 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Vernon County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
Heightened Cash Monitoring (Compliance Audit Late or Missing); School placed on Heightened Cash Monitoring
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)