Dallas College
Public Community College in Dallas, TX. Six-year graduation rate 32%. Median 10-year earnings $41,714.
Ten-year median earnings of $41,714 are on the low side, which raises the bar for what this degree needs to cost. Completion is the weak point: 32% graduate within six years. Median debt at graduation is $9,500, 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 0.23 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Graduation rate 32% — below national average
Academics
A six-year graduation rate of 32% means finishing is closer to the exception than the rule. Retention of 67% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. Retention runs well ahead of completion, which means students are not leaving immediately; they are leaving somewhere between the second year and the finish line. A 14% 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 student-faculty ratio is 22:1 — typical, which in practice means large lectures early and smaller classes in the major.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 41,815 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
At $3,177 a year on average after grant aid, cost is low here relative to most undergraduate institutions. Income makes less difference than usual: $2,120 at $0–30k, $9,504 at $110k+. 49% get grants, which means the net price above will not apply to most applicants. 9% 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 · 3,246 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 | $2,120 |
| $30–48k | $2,530 |
| $48–75k | $5,023 |
| $75–110k | $7,185 |
| $110k+ | $9,504 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 3,692 of these 41,815 students, totalling $20,704,047 — an average of $5,608 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Dallas County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026