Prairie State College
Public Community College in Chicago Heights, IL. Six-year graduation rate 21%. Median 10-year earnings $36,696.
Median earnings ten years after entry come to $36,696, below what most undergraduate institutions return — the central fact to weigh against cost here. Completion is the weak point: 21% graduate within six years. Median debt at graduation is $11,000, 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 0.30 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Graduation rate 21% — below national average
Academics
A six-year graduation rate of 21% means finishing is closer to the exception than the rule. 51% first-year retention is low enough to be the defining risk of enrolling here. That gap between coming back and finishing is where this school loses people — after the first year, not during it. A 28% 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. A 12:1 ratio points to small classes and accessible faculty.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 2,448 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
At $5,317 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 $3,546 at the $0–30k band to $13,908 at $110k+. 52% of students receive grant aid, averaging $7,882 — common but not automatic. Federal borrowing is uncommon here at 10% 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 · 212 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 | $3,546 |
| $30–48k | $3,013 |
| $48–75k | $7,839 |
| $75–110k | $11,127 |
| $110k+ | $13,908 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 250 of these 2,448 students, totalling $1,623,196 — an average of $6,493 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Cook 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)