Rend Lake College
Public Community College in Ina, IL. Six-year graduation rate 63%. Median 10-year earnings $35,775.
Ten-year median earnings of $35,775 are on the low side, which raises the bar for what this degree needs to cost. Six-year completion sits at 63%, near the national average for undergraduate institutions. Graduates leave owing a median of $5,809 — modest by four-year standards.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.16 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Academics
63% graduate within six years — average, but that average still hides a large group who do not. Retention of 64% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. 13% transfer out. IPEDS does not follow them, so whether they finished elsewhere is not recorded either way. The part-time picture is harder: 44% return, against 64% full-time. At 19:1, class sizes land in the normal range for an undergraduate institution.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,196 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $11,427 annually, well below typical undergraduate net price. Net price varies modestly by income — $8,424 at $0–30k against $11,858 at $75–110k — so the average is a fair guide for most families. Most students get help: 87% receive grants worth $6,026 on average.
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 · 324 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 | $8,424 |
| $30–48k | $8,653 |
| $48–75k | $10,818 |
| $75–110k | $11,858 |
| $110k+ | — |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Jefferson 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)