Southeastern Community College
Public Community College in West Burlington, IA. Six-year graduation rate 43%. Median 10-year earnings $36,882.
Ten-year median earnings of $36,882 are on the low side, which raises the bar for what this degree needs to cost. 44% finish within six years — respectable, though a meaningful share still leave without a credential. Median debt at graduation is $12,000, 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 0.33 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Mobility score 0.7 — limited economic uplift documented
Academics
44% graduate within six years — average, but that average still hides a large group who do not. First-year retention is 70% — the single largest point of attrition on this campus. The distance between those two figures is the part worth noticing — students return for a second year at a much higher rate than they graduate, so attrition here is spread across the middle years rather than concentrated in the first. Retention drops to 52% for part-time students, a gap worth weighing if full-time study is not realistic. At 14:1, students get materially more instructor contact than at a typical public university.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,529 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
At $9,587 a year on average after grant aid, cost is low here relative to most undergraduate institutions. The gap between the $0–30k and $110k+ bands is narrow ($11,012 versus $16,122), meaning aid is not strongly need-weighted. Grant aid reaches 72% of students at an average of $5,854. About 34% borrow federally, roughly the national pattern.
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 · 471 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 | $11,012 |
| $30–48k | $10,249 |
| $48–75k | $12,194 |
| $75–110k | $15,178 |
| $110k+ | $16,122 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 523 of these 1,529 students, totalling $2,950,520 — an average of $5,642 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Des Moines 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)