Fort Scott
Community College
Public Community College in Fort Scott, KS. Six-year graduation rate 35%. Median 10-year earnings $37,213.
Ten-year median earnings of $37,213 are on the low side, which raises the bar for what this degree needs to cost. Only 35% finish within six years, so roughly two in three students leave without the credential they enrolled for. 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 0.26 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Graduation rate 35% — below national average
Academics
Only 35% finish within six years, so roughly two in three students leave without the credential. Retention of 61% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. That gap between coming back and finishing is where this school loses people — after the first year, not during it. 31% of students transfer out, which reframes what the graduation rate above is measuring. A 15:1 ratio points to small classes and accessible faculty.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 736 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price is $6,227 a year after grant aid — low for a four-year institution, though your own figure depends on aid eligibility. Income makes less difference than usual: $3,140 at $0–30k, $9,416 at $110k+. Grant aid is widespread — 90% of students receive it, averaging $6,423. About 48% borrow federally, roughly the national pattern.
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 · 193 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 | $3,140 |
| $30–48k | $2,629 |
| $48–75k | $5,555 |
| $75–110k | $10,083 |
| $110k+ | $9,416 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 355 of these 736 students, totalling $984,219 — an average of $2,772 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Bourbon 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)