Jefferson State
Community College
Public Community College in Birmingham, AL. Six-year graduation rate 26%. Median 10-year earnings $40,719.
Students who entered Jefferson State Community College reach a median of $40,719 a decade later, a figure that trails the typical four-year outcome. The six-year graduation rate is 26% — low enough that finishing cannot be treated as the default outcome. Median debt at graduation is $9,689, 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 0.24 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Graduation rate 26% — below national average
Academics
Only 26% finish within six years, so roughly three in four 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. With 37% transferring out, this functions substantially as a stepping stone. The part-time picture is harder: 44% return, against 59% full-time.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 5,443 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price is $8,778 a year after grant aid — low for a four-year institution, though your own figure depends on aid eligibility. The gap between the $0–30k and $110k+ bands is narrow ($6,836 versus $12,274), meaning aid is not strongly need-weighted. 56% of students receive grant aid, averaging $5,888 — common but not automatic. Federal borrowing reaches 47% 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 · 789 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 | $6,836 |
| $30–48k | $7,091 |
| $48–75k | $9,884 |
| $75–110k | $12,322 |
| $110k+ | $12,274 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 2,554 of these 5,443 students, totalling $11,225,515 — an average of $4,395 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)