Western Oklahoma
State College
Public Community College in Altus, OK. Six-year graduation rate 31%. Median 10-year earnings $38,248.
Median earnings ten years after entry come to $38,248, below what most undergraduate institutions return — the central fact to weigh against cost here. The six-year graduation rate is 31% — low enough that finishing cannot be treated as the default outcome. Borrowing stays contained, with median debt at graduation of $9,500. It also moves people — 2.5% 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 0.25 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Graduation rate 31% — below national average
Academics
Only 31% finish within six years, so roughly two in three students leave without the credential. 56% first-year retention is low enough to be the defining risk of enrolling here. Retention and completion are close, which places the gap between entering and finishing almost entirely in year one. Part-time students fare worse, returning at 32% — relevant if you plan to work while enrolled. At 20:1, class sizes land in the normal range for an undergraduate institution.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 835 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $7,810 annually, well below typical undergraduate net price. The gap between the $0–30k and $110k+ bands is narrow ($5,781 versus $13,233), meaning aid is not strongly need-weighted. About 83% get grants averaging $6,641, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. Only 21% take federal loans. Private borrowing is not captured in this figure.
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 · 183 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 | $5,781 |
| $30–48k | $5,875 |
| $48–75k | $5,440 |
| $75–110k | $11,646 |
| $110k+ | $13,233 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 179 of these 835 students, totalling $1,130,096 — an average of $6,313 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Jackson 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)