Shorter College
Private Community College in N Little Rock, AR. Six-year graduation rate 13%.
The six-year graduation rate is 13% — low enough that finishing cannot be treated as the default outcome. Graduates leave owing a median of $29,500 — a substantial load to service on these earnings.
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Graduation rate 13% — below national average
Academics
Completion is the problem here: 13% graduate within six years. 39% first-year retention is low enough to be the defining risk of enrolling here. Retention runs well ahead of completion, which means students are not leaving immediately; they are leaving somewhere between the second year and the finish line. At 16:1, class sizes land in the normal range for an undergraduate institution. As a private nonprofit two-year college, the relevant comparison is other two-year schools rather than the national average across all institutions.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 290 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $14,802 annually, well below typical undergraduate net price. Income makes less difference than usual: $13,844 at $0–30k, $18,089 at $48–75k. About 75% get grants averaging $8,365, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. Borrowing is widespread: 60% take federal loans.
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 · 62 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 | $13,844 |
| $30–48k | $10,243 |
| $48–75k | $18,089 |
| $75–110k | — |
| $110k+ | — |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 174 of these 290 students, totalling $1,292,348 — an average of $7,427 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Pulaski County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
Heightened Cash Monitoring, Heightened Cash Monitoring (Severe Program Review Findings); Heightened Cash Monitoring; School placed on Heightened Cash Monitoring
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)