East Central
Community College
Public Community College in Decatur, MS. Six-year graduation rate 36%. Median 10-year earnings $32,421.
Ten-year median earnings of $32,421 are on the low side, which raises the bar for what this degree needs to cost. Completion is the weak point: 36% graduate within six years. Median debt at graduation is $5,500, a light load against those earnings. It also moves people — 2.6% 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 0.17 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Academics
Completion is the problem here: 36% graduate within six years. 60% of full-time first-years come back for year two, so about two in five are gone before sophomore year. Retention and completion are close, which places the gap between entering and finishing almost entirely in year one. A 15% 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. Part-time students fare worse, returning at 5% — relevant if you plan to work while enrolled.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,587 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $6,729 annually, well below typical undergraduate net price. Income makes less difference than usual: $4,575 at $0–30k, $12,412 at $110k+. Most students get help: 88% receive grants worth $6,796 on average. Only 10% 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 · 552 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 | $4,575 |
| $30–48k | $4,371 |
| $48–75k | $6,427 |
| $75–110k | $9,900 |
| $110k+ | $12,412 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 159 of these 1,587 students, totalling $705,963 — an average of $4,440 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Newton 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)