Southwestern Community College
Public Community College in Creston, IA. Six-year graduation rate 59%. Median 10-year earnings $40,129.
Ten-year median earnings of $40,129 are on the low side, which raises the bar for what this degree needs to cost. Six-year completion sits at 59%, near the national average for undergraduate institutions. Median debt at graduation is $10,975, a light load against those earnings. It also moves people — 2.2% 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.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.27 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Academics
Six-year completion sits at 59%, meaning about two in five students who enroll leave without finishing. Retention of 68% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. 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. The part-time picture is harder: 34% return, against 68% full-time. 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 774 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
At $9,410 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 ($7,137 versus $14,449), meaning aid is not strongly need-weighted. 71% of students receive grant aid, averaging $6,698 — common but not automatic. Federal borrowing reaches 45% of students.
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 · 243 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 | $7,137 |
| $30–48k | $8,440 |
| $48–75k | $10,118 |
| $75–110k | $12,444 |
| $110k+ | $14,449 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 348 of these 774 students, totalling $2,091,039 — an average of $6,009 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)