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Public Community College

Oakland Community College

Public Community College in Auburn Hills, MI. Six-year graduation rate 21%. Median 10-year earnings $37,395.

Verdict Mixed outcomes
Oakland Community College · Campus
Median earnings · 10 yr
$37,395
Median debt at grad
$9,105
Mobility score
0.8
% bottom→top quintile
Graduation rate
20.7%
Federal loan default
0%

Students who entered Oakland Community College reach a median of $37,395 a decade later, a figure that trails the typical four-year outcome. Only 21% finish within six years, so roughly four in five students leave without the credential they enrolled for. Graduates leave owing a median of $9,105 — modest by four-year standards.

Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.

Green Flags
  • Debt-to-income ratio 0.24 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
  • 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Red Flags
  • ! Mobility score 0.8 — limited economic uplift documented
  • ! Graduation rate 21% — below national average

Academics

Full-time retention
56%
Transfer-out rate
25%
Student:faculty
23:1

Completion is the problem here: 21% graduate within six years. 56% first-year retention is low enough to be the defining risk of enrolling here. Retention runs well ahead of completion, which means students are not leaving immediately; they are leaving somewhere between the second year and the finish line. 25% transfer out. IPEDS does not follow them, so whether they finished elsewhere is not recorded either way. At 23:1, instructor access is thin — worth probing on a campus visit.

Financial Aid

Average net price
$3,871
Full-time, first-time undergraduates paying the in-state rate who were awarded grant or scholarship aid
% receiving grants
53%
degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
% receiving federal loans
18%
degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 11,773 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates

At $3,871 a year on average after grant aid, cost is low here relative to most undergraduate institutions. Net price swings hard on family income here, from $3,590 at the $0–30k band to $12,314 at $110k+. About 53% get grants averaging $7,155, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. Only 18% 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.

% receiving grants
62%
Average grant
$8,158

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 1,327 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 $3,590
$30–48k $4,325
$48–75k $7,232
$75–110k $10,132
$110k+ $12,314

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24

Federal student loans went to 2,136 of these 11,773 students, totalling $7,816,829 — an average of $3,660 each.

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24

Local housing costs

Typical rents near campus (Oakland County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.

Studio
$1,009/mo
1 bedroom
$1,122/mo
2 bedroom (whole unit)
$1,411/mo

HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026

Veterans & GI Bill

GI Bill students
294
Yellow Ribbon
No
Principles of Excellence
No

VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)

Compare Oakland Community College with peer institutions

How we evaluate Oakland Community College

IPEDS
US Department of Education
College Scorecard
Post-grad earnings
Census PSEO
Earnings by major
Opportunity Insights
Mobility by institution
Read our full methodology →