South Mountain
Community College
Public Community College in Phoenix, AZ. Six-year graduation rate 16%. Median 10-year earnings $39,825.
Median earnings ten years after entry come to $39,825, below what most undergraduate institutions return — the central fact to weigh against cost here. Completion is the weak point: 16% graduate within six years. Median debt at graduation is $8,000, a light load against those earnings.
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
- ! Graduation rate 16% — below national average
Academics
Completion is the problem here: 16% graduate within six years. Transfer-out runs to 18% — common enough at this school that the completion rate is measuring a smaller group than the entering class. A 20:1 ratio is unremarkable; expect a mix of lecture halls and seminars. As a public four-year university, the relevant comparison is other four-year schools rather than the national average across all institutions. With 4,157 undergraduates, the school sits in the middle of the size distribution.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 2,605 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $13,152 annually, well below typical undergraduate net price. Income makes less difference than usual: $11,902 at $0–30k, $17,132 at $110k+. 56% of students receive grant aid, averaging $5,302 — common but not automatic. 13% borrow federally — a low rate, though it covers federal loans only.
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 · 382 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 | $11,902 |
| $30–48k | $11,932 |
| $48–75k | $13,987 |
| $75–110k | $17,329 |
| $110k+ | $17,132 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 351 of these 2,605 students, totalling $1,570,638 — an average of $4,475 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Maricopa County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
Probation or Equivalent or a More Severe Status: Warning (Other - Provide unlisted or multiple justifications); School has an accreditation issue
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)