Pierce College District
Public Community College in Lakewood, WA. Six-year graduation rate 31%. Median 10-year earnings $47,532.
Students who entered Pierce College District land at a median of $47,532 a decade later, close to what most four-year schools deliver. Only 31% finish within six years, so roughly two in three students leave without the credential they enrolled for. Borrowing stays contained, with median debt at graduation of $12,000. It also moves people — 2.0% 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 0.25 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.2% — below national benchmark
- ! Graduation rate 31% — below national average
Academics
Completion is the problem here: 31% graduate within six years. A 20% transfer-out rate accounts for part of that gap: those students left for another institution rather than dropping out, and the graduation rate above counts them as non-completers here. At 13:1, students get materially more instructor contact than at a typical public university. This is a public four-year university, so read every rate on this page against that peer group specifically. The undergraduate population is 7,427 — big enough for a real range of programs, small enough to navigate.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 4,487 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price is $11,340 a year after grant aid — low for a four-year institution, though your own figure depends on aid eligibility. The income table below is the number that matters — $7,816 at $0–30k versus $17,249 at $110k+. About 50% get grants averaging $6,967, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. Federal borrowing is uncommon here at 18% 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 · 785 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 | $7,816 |
| $30–48k | $9,066 |
| $48–75k | $11,592 |
| $75–110k | $14,309 |
| $110k+ | $17,249 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 822 of these 4,487 students, totalling $5,382,152 — an average of $6,548 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Pierce 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)