Otero College
Public Community College in La Junta, CO. Six-year graduation rate 38%. Median 10-year earnings $39,018.
Ten-year median earnings of $39,018 are on the low side, which raises the bar for what this degree needs to cost. Only 38% finish within six years, so roughly three in five students leave without the credential they enrolled for. Borrowing stays contained, with median debt at graduation of $10,250.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.26 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Academics
A six-year graduation rate of 38% means finishing is closer to the exception than the rule. 44% first-year retention is low enough to be the defining risk of enrolling here. The 33% transfer-out rate is high enough that a large share of this school's students are really passing through. At 14:1, students get materially more instructor contact than at a typical public university. This is a public community college, so read every rate on this page against that peer group specifically.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 646 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
At $12,006 a year on average after grant aid, cost is low here relative to most undergraduate institutions. Net price varies modestly by income — $9,735 at $0–30k against $16,207 at $110k+ — so the average is a fair guide for most families. Grant aid is widespread — 87% of students receive it, averaging $8,991. 25% of students take federal loans, a middling borrowing rate.
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 · 215 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 | $9,735 |
| $30–48k | $10,817 |
| $48–75k | $11,499 |
| $75–110k | $15,257 |
| $110k+ | $16,207 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 164 of these 646 students, totalling $1,046,271 — an average of $6,380 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Otero 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)