Independence Community College
Public Community College in Independence, KS. Six-year graduation rate 26%. Median 10-year earnings $34,941.
Median earnings ten years after entry come to $34,941, below what most undergraduate institutions return — the central fact to weigh against cost here. Completion is the weak point: 26% graduate within six years. Borrowing stays contained, with median debt at graduation of $6,115.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.18 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Mobility score 1.0 — limited economic uplift documented
- ! Graduation rate 26% — below national average
Academics
A six-year graduation rate of 26% means finishing is closer to the exception than the rule. Retention is weak: only 44% of full-time first-years return, so roughly three in five leave after one year. The two rates sit near each other: few students who return for a second year are missing from the six-year completion figure. The 35% transfer-out rate is high enough that a large share of this school's students are really passing through. At 16:1, class sizes land in the normal range for an undergraduate institution.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 518 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price is $3,738 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: $2,934 at $0–30k, $10,187 at $110k+. 87% of students get grant aid averaging $6,336, so the published price is a poor guide to what most pay. Federal borrowing reaches 30% 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 · 164 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 | $2,934 |
| $30–48k | $3,435 |
| $48–75k | $1,685 |
| $75–110k | $6,220 |
| $110k+ | $10,187 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 155 of these 518 students, totalling $686,354 — an average of $4,428 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Montgomery 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)