PCI Academy-Ames
For-profit College in Ames, IA. Six-year graduation rate 77%. Median 10-year earnings $31,330.
Students who entered PCI Academy-Ames reach a median of $31,330 a decade later, a figure that trails the typical four-year outcome. The six-year graduation rate of 77% is well above average and the clearest sign this school holds onto its students. Median debt at graduation is $5,828, a light load against those earnings.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.19 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ Graduation rate 77% — well above the national average
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Academics
77% of students finish within six years, putting completion well above the national norm. 100% of full-time first-years return for a second year — a healthy figure. The two rates sit near each other: few students who return for a second year are missing from the six-year completion figure. At 15:1, students get materially more instructor contact than at a typical public university. As a for-profit short-program school, outcomes here deserve a harder look than the sector average suggests: for-profit institutions vary enormously, and the sector's aggregate numbers hide both strong and very weak performers.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 249 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price after grant aid is $22,257 a year — mid-range for a four-year institution. The gap between the $0–30k and $110k+ bands is narrow ($22,393 versus $18,673), meaning aid is not strongly need-weighted. Grant aid reaches 71% of students at an average of $3,451. About 53% borrow federally, roughly the national pattern.
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 · 53 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 | $22,393 |
| $30–48k | — |
| $48–75k | — |
| $75–110k | — |
| $110k+ | $18,673 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 133 of these 249 students, totalling $748,272 — an average of $5,626 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Story 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)