South Puget
Sound Community College
Public Community College in Olympia, WA. Six-year graduation rate 44%. Median 10-year earnings $45,039.
The median ten-year earnings figure of $45,039 sits near the national middle rather than at either extreme. The six-year graduation rate is 44%, meaning about three in five students who start do not finish. Median debt at graduation is $11,000, 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 0.24 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Academics
44% graduate within six years — average, but that average still hides a large group who do not. A 16% 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. A 17:1 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 4,252 undergraduates, the school sits in the middle of the size distribution.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 2,692 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price is $12,399 a year after grant aid — low for a four-year institution, though your own figure depends on aid eligibility. The income table below is the number that matters — $7,757 at $0–30k versus $16,766 at $110k+. 62% of students receive grant aid, averaging $6,943 — common but not automatic. 8% 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 · 550 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 | $7,757 |
| $30–48k | $8,765 |
| $48–75k | $9,655 |
| $75–110k | $11,781 |
| $110k+ | $16,766 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 209 of these 2,692 students, totalling $1,285,930 — an average of $6,153 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Thurston 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)