SOWELA Technical
Community College
Public Community College in Lake Charles, LA. Six-year graduation rate 43%. Median 10-year earnings $32,303.
Median earnings ten years after entry come to $32,303, below what most undergraduate institutions return — the central fact to weigh against cost here. Six-year completion sits at 43%, near the national average for undergraduate institutions.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Academics
Completion is middling: 43% finish inside six years. Just 59% of first-years come back — most of the completion gap opens in year one. The two rates sit near each other: few students who return for a second year are missing from the six-year completion figure. Retention drops to 35% for part-time students, a gap worth weighing if full-time study is not realistic. At 19:1, class sizes land in the normal range for an undergraduate institution.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 2,974 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
At $8,814 a year on average after grant aid, cost is low here relative to most undergraduate institutions. Income makes less difference than usual: $7,439 at $0–30k, $8,407 at $75–110k. 70% of students receive grant aid, averaging $5,726 — common but not automatic.
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 · 567 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 | $7,439 |
| $30–48k | $6,864 |
| $48–75k | $8,411 |
| $75–110k | $8,407 |
| $110k+ | — |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Calcasieu Parish) — 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)