Jefferson College
Public Community College in Hillsboro, MO. Six-year graduation rate 38%. Median 10-year earnings $40,782.
Ten-year median earnings of $40,782 are on the low side, which raises the bar for what this degree needs to cost. Completion is the weak point: 38% graduate within six years. Median debt at graduation is $9,285, 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 0.23 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Mobility score 0.9 — limited economic uplift documented
Academics
A six-year graduation rate of 38% means finishing is closer to the exception than the rule. 69% of full-time first-years come back for year two, so about one in three are gone before sophomore year. That gap between coming back and finishing is where this school loses people — after the first year, not during it. 15% transfer out. IPEDS does not follow them, so whether they finished elsewhere is not recorded either way. Retention drops to 48% for part-time students, a gap worth weighing if full-time study is not realistic.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 2,514 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
At $7,082 a year on average after grant aid, cost is low here relative to most undergraduate institutions. Income makes less difference than usual: $6,048 at $0–30k, $10,568 at $110k+. Grant aid reaches 78% of students at an average of $4,716. 12% borrow federally — a low rate, though it covers federal loans only.
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 · 741 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 | $6,048 |
| $30–48k | $5,745 |
| $48–75k | $8,614 |
| $75–110k | $9,711 |
| $110k+ | $10,568 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 296 of these 2,514 students, totalling $1,486,674 — an average of $5,023 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Jefferson 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)