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Public Community College

Iowa Central
Community College

Public Community College in Fort Dodge, IA. Six-year graduation rate 42%. Median 10-year earnings $42,046.

Verdict Mixed outcomes
Iowa Central Community College · Campus
Median earnings · 10 yr
$42,046
Median debt at grad
$11,000
Mobility score
1.2
% bottom→top quintile
Graduation rate
41.6%
Federal loan default
0%

Students who entered Iowa Central Community College land at a median of $42,046 a decade later, close to what most four-year schools deliver. Six-year completion sits at 42%, near the national average for undergraduate institutions. Graduates leave owing a median of $11,000 — modest by four-year standards.

Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.

Green Flags
  • Debt-to-income ratio 0.26 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
  • 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Red Flags

Academics

Full-time retention
52%
Transfer-out rate
0%
Student:faculty
19:1

Completion is middling: 42% finish inside six years. Retention is weak: only 52% of full-time first-years return, so roughly one in two leave after one year. Retention drops to 39% for part-time students, a gap worth weighing if full-time study is not realistic. At 19:1, class sizes land in the normal range for an undergraduate institution. This is a public community college, so read every rate on this page against that peer group specifically.

Financial Aid

Average net price
$9,902
Full-time, first-time undergraduates paying the in-state rate who were awarded grant or scholarship aid
% receiving grants
86%
degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
% receiving federal loans
57%
degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 3,116 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates

Average net price is $9,902 a year after grant aid — low for a four-year institution, though your own figure depends on aid eligibility. Net price varies modestly by income — $7,837 at $0–30k against $12,424 at $110k+ — so the average is a fair guide for most families. 86% of students get grant aid averaging $6,089, so the published price is a poor guide to what most pay. Most students borrow — 57% take federal loans to cover the gap.

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.

% receiving grants
93%
Average grant
$5,934

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 996 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 $7,837
$30–48k $7,865
$48–75k $8,948
$75–110k $12,252
$110k+ $12,424

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24

Federal student loans went to 1,761 of these 3,116 students, totalling $10,870,749 — an average of $6,173 each.

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24

Local housing costs

Typical rents near campus (Webster County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.

Studio
$696/mo
1 bedroom
$700/mo
2 bedroom (whole unit)
$919/mo

HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026

Veterans & GI Bill

GI Bill students
77
Yellow Ribbon
No
Principles of Excellence
Yes

VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)

Compare Iowa Central Community College with peer institutions

How we evaluate Iowa Central Community College

IPEDS
US Department of Education
College Scorecard
Post-grad earnings
Census PSEO
Earnings by major
Opportunity Insights
Mobility by institution
Read our full methodology →