Kansas City
Kansas Community College
Public Community College in Kansas City, KS. Six-year graduation rate 42%. Median 10-year earnings $40,795.
Ten-year median earnings of $40,795 are on the low side, which raises the bar for what this degree needs to cost. The six-year graduation rate is 42%, meaning about three in five students who start do not finish. Median debt at graduation is $8,793, 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 0.22 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Mobility score 1.0 — limited economic uplift documented
Academics
42% graduate within six years — average, but that average still hides a large group who do not. Just 55% of first-years come back — most of the completion gap opens in year one. The two rates sit near each other: few students who return for a second year are missing from the six-year completion figure. A 15% transfer-out rate accounts for part of that gap: those students left for another institution rather than dropping out, and the graduation rate above counts them as non-completers here. Retention drops to 36% 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 3,071 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $15,141 annually once grants are applied. Net price varies modestly by income — $16,375 at $0–30k against $17,987 at $75–110k — so the average is a fair guide for most families. About 67% get grants averaging $4,954, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. 10% 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 · 491 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 | $16,375 |
| $30–48k | $16,358 |
| $48–75k | $17,518 |
| $75–110k | $17,987 |
| $110k+ | — |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 295 of these 3,071 students, totalling $1,435,785 — an average of $4,867 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Wyandotte 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)