Valley Grande
Institute for Academic Studies
Private College in Weslaco, TX. Median 10-year earnings $33,472.
Median earnings ten years after entry come to $33,472, below what most undergraduate institutions return — the central fact to weigh against cost here. Median debt at graduation is $9,500, 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 0.28 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Academics
This institution reports no six-year graduation rate. The federal measure only follows first-time, full-time students, so schools built around part-time or transfer enrollment often fall outside it entirely. 40% first-year retention is low enough to be the defining risk of enrolling here. At 11:1, students get materially more instructor contact than at a typical public university. This is a private nonprofit short-program school, so read every rate on this page against that peer group specifically. This is a small school — 252 undergraduates — so cohorts are tight and the program list is necessarily short.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 252 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
At $12,051 a year on average after grant aid, cost is low here relative to most undergraduate institutions. Net price varies modestly by income — $12,079 at $0–30k against $16,071 at $75–110k — so the average is a fair guide for most families. Most students get help: 99% receive grants worth $3,621 on average. 95% of students borrow federally, so debt is the norm rather than the exception.
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 · 120 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 | $12,079 |
| $30–48k | $12,415 |
| $48–75k | $8,680 |
| $75–110k | $16,071 |
| $110k+ | — |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 240 of these 252 students, totalling $1,414,660 — an average of $5,894 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Hidalgo County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
Probation or Equivalent or a More Severe Status: Show Cause (Other - Provide unlisted or multiple justifications); School has an accreditation issue
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)