Hawaii Community College
Public Community College in Hilo, HI. Six-year graduation rate 33%. Median 10-year earnings $34,891.
Ten-year median earnings of $34,891 are on the low side, which raises the bar for what this degree needs to cost. The six-year graduation rate is 33% — low enough that finishing cannot be treated as the default outcome. Median debt at graduation is $10,500, 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 0.30 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Graduation rate 33% — below national average
Academics
Only 33% finish within six years, so roughly two in three students leave without the credential. 59% first-year retention is low enough to be the defining risk of enrolling here. That gap between coming back and finishing is where this school loses people — after the first year, not during it. The part-time picture is harder: 36% return, against 59% full-time. A 14:1 ratio points to small classes and accessible faculty.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,470 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $9,261 annually, well below typical undergraduate net price. The gap between the $0–30k and $110k+ bands is narrow ($7,964 versus $15,383), meaning aid is not strongly need-weighted. About 56% get grants averaging $5,502, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. Federal borrowing is uncommon here at 8% 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 · 255 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 | $7,964 |
| $30–48k | $6,745 |
| $48–75k | $9,929 |
| $75–110k | $11,917 |
| $110k+ | $15,383 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 123 of these 1,470 students, totalling $765,415 — an average of $6,223 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Hawaii 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)