Del Mar College
Public Community College in Corpus Christi, TX. Six-year graduation rate 11%. Median 10-year earnings $38,656.
Median earnings ten years after entry come to $38,656, below what most undergraduate institutions return — the central fact to weigh against cost here. Only 11% finish within six years, so roughly nine in ten students leave without the credential they enrolled for. Median debt at graduation is $5,500, a light load against those earnings. It also moves people — 3.7% of students climb from the bottom fifth of the income distribution 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 0.14 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Graduation rate 11% — below national average
Academics
Only 11% finish within six years, so roughly nine in ten students leave without the credential. A 16% 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. A 12:1 ratio points to small classes and accessible faculty. As a public four-year university, the relevant comparison is other four-year schools rather than the national average across all institutions. 9,720 undergraduates makes this a mid-sized institution.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 9,026 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price is $3,593 a year after grant aid — low for a four-year institution, though your own figure depends on aid eligibility. The income table below is the number that matters — $2,541 at $0–30k versus $12,845 at $110k+. 39% get grants, which means the net price above will not apply to most applicants. Only 5% take federal loans. Private borrowing is not captured in this figure.
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 · 323 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 | $2,541 |
| $30–48k | $2,500 |
| $48–75k | $5,823 |
| $75–110k | $7,947 |
| $110k+ | $12,845 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 433 of these 9,026 students, totalling $1,914,182 — an average of $4,421 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Nueces 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)