Spoon River College
Public Community College in Canton, IL. Six-year graduation rate 42%. Median 10-year earnings $38,386.
Median earnings ten years after entry come to $38,386, below what most undergraduate institutions return — the central fact to weigh against cost here. Six-year completion sits at 42%, 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
- ! Mobility score 0.8 — limited economic uplift documented
Academics
Six-year completion sits at 42%, meaning about three in five students who enroll leave without finishing. 66% of full-time first-years come back for year two, so about one in three are gone before sophomore year. Retention and graduation track closely, so most of the attrition shows up in the first year rather than after it. A 22% 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. Part-time students actually return at a higher rate, 83%, which is unusual and suggests the school is built for them.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 774 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $4,153 annually, well below typical undergraduate net price. The income table below is the number that matters — $1,915 at $0–30k versus $11,892 at $110k+. Grant aid reaches 76% of students at an average of $6,280. 11% 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 · 90 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 | $1,915 |
| $30–48k | $1,060 |
| $48–75k | $4,710 |
| $75–110k | $8,919 |
| $110k+ | $11,892 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 88 of these 774 students, totalling $418,931 — an average of $4,761 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Fulton 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)