Howard College
Public Community College in Big Spring, TX. Six-year graduation rate 35%. Median 10-year earnings $38,382.
Ten-year median earnings of $38,382 are on the low side, which raises the bar for what this degree needs to cost. The six-year graduation rate is 35% — low enough that finishing cannot be treated as the default outcome. Graduates leave owing a median of $9,500 — modest by four-year standards. It also moves people — 3.4% 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 0.25 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Academics
A six-year graduation rate of 35% means finishing is closer to the exception than the rule. 71% of full-time first-years come back for year two, so about one in three are gone before sophomore year. The distance between those two figures is the part worth noticing — students return for a second year at a much higher rate than they graduate, so attrition here is spread across the middle years rather than concentrated in the first. Part-time students fare worse, returning at 49% — relevant if you plan to work while enrolled. The 25:1 student-faculty ratio is high, so large classes and limited faculty contact should be the expectation.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,589 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price is $6,491 a year after grant aid — low for a four-year institution, though your own figure depends on aid eligibility. The income table below is the number that matters — $4,301 at $0–30k versus $12,329 at $110k+. 90% of students get grant aid averaging $5,219, so the published price is a poor guide to what most pay. Only 23% 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 · 279 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 | $4,301 |
| $30–48k | $6,056 |
| $48–75k | $7,068 |
| $75–110k | $9,934 |
| $110k+ | $12,329 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 360 of these 1,589 students, totalling $2,128,359 — an average of $5,912 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Howard 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)