Southeastern Illinois College
Public Community College in Harrisburg, IL. Six-year graduation rate 55%. Median 10-year earnings $33,763.
Median earnings ten years after entry come to $33,763, below what most undergraduate institutions return — the central fact to weigh against cost here. 55% finish within six years — respectable, though a meaningful share still leave without a credential. It also moves people — 2.7% of students climb from the bottom fifth of the income distribution to the top.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
Academics
Completion is middling: 55% finish inside six years. Retention of 66% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. 22% transfer out. IPEDS does not follow them, so whether they finished elsewhere is not recorded either way. Retention drops to 35% for part-time students, a gap worth weighing if full-time study is not realistic. The student-faculty ratio is 17:1 — typical, which in practice means large lectures early and smaller classes in the major.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 659 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
At $12,781 a year on average after grant aid, cost is low here relative to most undergraduate institutions. Income makes less difference than usual: $10,895 at $0–30k, $12,908 at $110k+. About 81% get grants averaging $4,060, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price.
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 · 236 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 | $10,895 |
| $30–48k | $11,337 |
| $48–75k | $12,999 |
| $75–110k | $12,731 |
| $110k+ | $12,908 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Saline 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)