Rock Valley College
Public Community College in Rockford, IL. Six-year graduation rate 37%. Median 10-year earnings $39,158.
Ten-year median earnings of $39,158 are on the low side, which raises the bar for what this degree needs to cost. Completion is the weak point: 37% graduate within six years. Graduates leave owing a median of $8,500 — 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 0.22 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Mobility score 0.8 — limited economic uplift documented
Academics
Completion is the problem here: 37% graduate within six years. Retention of 70% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. That gap between coming back and finishing is where this school loses people — after the first year, not during it. Transfer-out runs to 16% — common enough at this school that the completion rate is measuring a smaller group than the entering class. Part-time students fare worse, returning at 52% — relevant if you plan to work while enrolled.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 4,362 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
At $5,445 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 $3,409 at the $0–30k band to $11,568 at $110k+. Grant aid is limited — 36% of students receive any. Federal borrowing is uncommon here at 4% 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 · 707 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 | $3,409 |
| $30–48k | $4,228 |
| $48–75k | $6,756 |
| $75–110k | $8,615 |
| $110k+ | $11,568 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 192 of these 4,362 students, totalling $1,047,827 — an average of $5,457 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Winnebago 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)