Des Moines
Area Community College
Public Community College in Ankeny, IA. Six-year graduation rate 39%. Median 10-year earnings $41,018.
Students who entered Des Moines Area Community College reach a median of $41,018 a decade later, a figure that trails the typical four-year outcome. Only 39% finish within six years, so roughly three in five students leave without the credential they enrolled for. Median debt at graduation is $11,000, 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 0.27 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Mobility score 0.8 — limited economic uplift documented
Academics
A six-year graduation rate of 39% means finishing is closer to the exception than the rule. Retention of 63% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. The two rates sit near each other: few students who return for a second year are missing from the six-year completion figure. 17% transfer out. IPEDS does not follow them, so whether they finished elsewhere is not recorded either way. Retention drops to 47% 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 10,406 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price is $10,755 a year after grant aid — low for a four-year institution, though your own figure depends on aid eligibility. Net price varies modestly by income — $9,132 at $0–30k against $15,534 at $110k+ — so the average is a fair guide for most families. Grant aid reaches 52% of students at an average of $4,524. Federal borrowing reaches 26% 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 · 1,702 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 | $9,132 |
| $30–48k | $9,175 |
| $48–75k | $11,130 |
| $75–110k | $13,455 |
| $110k+ | $15,534 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 2,732 of these 10,406 students, totalling $14,629,817 — an average of $5,355 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Polk 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)