Lamar State
College-Port Arthur
Public Community College in Port Arthur, TX. Six-year graduation rate 45%. Median 10-year earnings $37,120.
Students who entered Lamar State College-Port Arthur reach a median of $37,120 a decade later, a figure that trails the typical four-year outcome. 45% finish within six years — respectable, though a meaningful share still leave without a credential. Graduates leave owing a median of $13,250 — modest by four-year standards. It also moves people — 2.4% of students climb from the bottom fifth of the income distribution to the top.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Academics
Completion is middling: 45% finish inside six years. 67% of full-time first-years come back for year two, so about one in three are gone before sophomore year. Retention and graduation track closely, so most of the attrition shows up in the first year rather than after it. 13% transfer out. IPEDS does not follow them, so whether they finished elsewhere is not recorded either way. The part-time picture is harder: 51% return, against 67% full-time.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,455 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
At $2,543 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 — $1,137 at $0–30k versus $9,346 at $110k+. 64% of students receive grant aid, averaging $5,908 — common but not automatic. Federal borrowing is uncommon here at 19% 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 · 321 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 | $1,137 |
| $30–48k | $1,554 |
| $48–75k | $3,959 |
| $75–110k | $9,110 |
| $110k+ | $9,346 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 274 of these 1,455 students, totalling $1,859,146 — an average of $6,785 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)