Sauk Valley
Community College
Public Community College in Dixon, IL. Six-year graduation rate 49%. Median 10-year earnings $40,458.
Ten-year median earnings of $40,458 are on the low side, which raises the bar for what this degree needs to cost. Six-year completion sits at 49%, near the national average for undergraduate institutions. Graduates leave owing a median of $8,250 — 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 0.20 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Academics
Completion is middling: 49% finish inside six years. First-year retention is 74% — the single largest point of attrition on this campus. The two rates sit near each other: few students who return for a second year are missing from the six-year completion figure. 17% transfer out. IPEDS does not follow them, so whether they finished elsewhere is not recorded either way. Part-time students fare worse, returning at 56% — relevant if you plan to work while enrolled.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,164 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $9,141 annually, well below typical undergraduate net price. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $5,027 while those at $110k+ pay $14,155. 63% of students receive grant aid, averaging $4,383 — common but not automatic. Federal borrowing is uncommon here at 9% 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 · 248 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 | $5,027 |
| $30–48k | $7,182 |
| $48–75k | $8,884 |
| $75–110k | $12,524 |
| $110k+ | $14,155 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 107 of these 1,164 students, totalling $558,410 — an average of $5,219 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Lee 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)