South Arkansas College
Public Community College in El Dorado, AR. Six-year graduation rate 30%. Median 10-year earnings $34,521.
Students who entered South Arkansas College reach a median of $34,521 a decade later, a figure that trails the typical four-year outcome. Only 30% finish within six years, so roughly two in three students leave without the credential they enrolled for. Borrowing stays contained, with median debt at graduation of $11,153. Mobility is where this school separates itself: 2.0% of students move from the bottom income quintile to the top.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.32 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Graduation rate 30% — below national average
Academics
Completion is the problem here: 30% graduate within six years. Retention is weak: only 57% of full-time first-years return, so roughly two in five leave after one year. That gap between coming back and finishing is where this school loses people — after the first year, not during it. A 23% 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. The part-time picture is harder: 28% return, against 57% full-time.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 879 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price is $7,674 a year after grant aid — low for a four-year institution, though your own figure depends on aid eligibility. Net price varies modestly by income — $6,690 at $0–30k against $12,932 at $110k+ — so the average is a fair guide for most families. Grant aid reaches 76% of students at an average of $4,792. Only 23% take federal loans. Private borrowing is not captured in this figure.
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 · 152 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 | $6,690 |
| $30–48k | $6,041 |
| $48–75k | $8,640 |
| $75–110k | $11,305 |
| $110k+ | $12,932 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 203 of these 879 students, totalling $991,524 — an average of $4,884 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Union 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)