Joliet Junior College
Public Community College in Joliet, IL. Six-year graduation rate 21%. Median 10-year earnings $42,889.
Students who entered Joliet Junior College land at a median of $42,889 a decade later, close to what most four-year schools deliver. The six-year graduation rate is 21% — low enough that finishing cannot be treated as the default outcome. Borrowing stays contained, with median debt at graduation of $9,711.
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 0.8 — limited economic uplift documented
- ! Graduation rate 21% — below national average
Academics
A six-year graduation rate of 21% means finishing is closer to the exception than the rule. 67% 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. Transfer-out runs to 26% — common enough at this school that the completion rate is measuring a smaller group than the entering class.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 8,843 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $3,090 annually, well below typical undergraduate net price. Income makes less difference than usual: $890 at $0–30k, $4,556 at $110k+. 41% get grants, which means the net price above will not apply to most applicants. Federal borrowing is uncommon here at 5% 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 · 306 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 | $890 |
| $30–48k | $220 |
| $48–75k | $2,824 |
| $75–110k | $3,835 |
| $110k+ | $4,556 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 401 of these 8,843 students, totalling $408,760 — an average of $1,019 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Will 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)