Galveston College
Public Community College in Galveston, TX. Six-year graduation rate 33%. Median 10-year earnings $37,233.
Median earnings ten years after entry come to $37,233, below what most undergraduate institutions return — the central fact to weigh against cost here. Only 33% finish within six years, so roughly two in three students leave without the credential they enrolled for. Graduates leave owing a median of $10,311 — modest by four-year standards. On economic mobility, 2.6% of students travel from the bottom income quintile 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 0.28 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Graduation rate 33% — below national average
Academics
A six-year graduation rate of 33% means finishing is closer to the exception than the rule. 16% transfer out. IPEDS does not follow them, so whether they finished elsewhere is not recorded either way. A 14:1 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. With 2,119 undergraduates, the school sits in the middle of the size distribution.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,524 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $7,804 annually, well below typical undergraduate net price. Income makes less difference than usual: $7,225 at $0–30k, $14,542 at $110k+. Grant aid reaches 71% of students at an average of $5,133. Federal borrowing is uncommon here at 12% 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 · 227 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 | $7,225 |
| $30–48k | $8,331 |
| $48–75k | $9,418 |
| $75–110k | $11,276 |
| $110k+ | $14,542 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 179 of these 1,524 students, totalling $1,148,701 — an average of $6,417 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Galveston 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)