Lamar Community College
Public Community College in Lamar, CO. Six-year graduation rate 55%. Median 10-year earnings $38,719.
Median earnings ten years after entry come to $38,719, below what most undergraduate institutions return — the central fact to weigh against cost here. The six-year graduation rate is 55%, meaning about one in two students who start do not finish. Borrowing stays contained, with median debt at graduation of $8,750. Mobility is where this school separates itself: 2.2% of students move from the bottom income quintile to the top.
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
Academics
Completion is middling: 55% finish inside six years. 56% first-year retention is low enough to be the defining risk of enrolling here. Transfer-out runs to 25% — common enough at this school that the completion rate is measuring a smaller group than the entering class. Part-time students fare worse, returning at 24% — relevant if you plan to work while enrolled. At 16:1, class sizes land in the normal range for an undergraduate institution.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 406 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
At $12,317 a year on average after grant aid, cost is low here relative to most undergraduate institutions. The income table below is the number that matters — $7,513 at $0–30k versus $17,711 at $110k+. Grant aid reaches 81% of students at an average of $9,431. Federal borrowing is uncommon here at 15% 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 · 140 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 | $7,513 |
| $30–48k | $8,163 |
| $48–75k | $10,137 |
| $75–110k | $12,389 |
| $110k+ | $17,711 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 61 of these 406 students, totalling $317,931 — an average of $5,212 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Prowers 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)