Lee College
Public Community College in Baytown, TX. Six-year graduation rate 53%. Median 10-year earnings $42,178.
The median ten-year earnings figure of $42,178 sits near the national middle rather than at either extreme. 53% finish within six years — respectable, though a meaningful share still leave without a credential. Median debt at graduation is $7,500, a light load against those earnings. It also moves people — 3.1% 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.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.18 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Academics
53% graduate within six years — average, but that average still hides a large group who do not. First-year retention is 73% — the single largest point of attrition on this campus. Retention and completion are close, which places the gap between entering and finishing almost entirely in year one. Transfer-out runs to 14% — common enough at this school that the completion rate is measuring a smaller group than the entering class. The part-time picture is harder: 53% return, against 73% full-time.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 5,118 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
At $7,178 a year on average after grant aid, cost is low here relative to most undergraduate institutions. The gap between the $0–30k and $110k+ bands is narrow ($7,192 versus $8,070), meaning aid is not strongly need-weighted. 79% of students receive grant aid, averaging $3,247 — common but not automatic. Only 8% take federal loans. Private borrowing is not captured in this figure.
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 · 393 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 | $7,192 |
| $30–48k | $4,434 |
| $48–75k | $6,522 |
| $75–110k | $7,954 |
| $110k+ | $8,070 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 401 of these 5,118 students, totalling $2,283,173 — an average of $5,694 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Harris 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)