Cowley County
Community College
Public Community College in Arkansas City, KS. Six-year graduation rate 45%. Median 10-year earnings $37,723.
Median earnings ten years after entry come to $37,723, below what most undergraduate institutions return — the central fact to weigh against cost here. 45% finish within six years — respectable, though a meaningful share still leave without a credential. Graduates leave owing a median of $8,000 — 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 0.21 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Mobility score 1.0 — limited economic uplift documented
Academics
Completion is middling: 45% finish inside six years. First-year retention is 63% — the single largest point of attrition on this campus. Retention and graduation track closely, so most of the attrition shows up in the first year rather than after it. A 22% 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. The part-time picture is harder: 43% return, against 63% full-time.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,541 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $7,307 annually, well below typical undergraduate net price. Income makes less difference than usual: $6,305 at $0–30k, $9,632 at $110k+. About 82% get grants averaging $6,124, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. Federal borrowing reaches 30% of students.
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 · 473 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 | $6,305 |
| $30–48k | $5,566 |
| $48–75k | $8,017 |
| $75–110k | $8,589 |
| $110k+ | $9,632 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 465 of these 1,541 students, totalling $2,023,706 — an average of $4,352 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Cowley 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)