Southwestern Community College is a public institution offering associate degrees based in Creston, Iowa. It enrolls 729 students (a small, tight-knit student body), according to IPEDS 2023-24 data. Every figure on this page is reported by the federal government, not supplied by the college, so it can be compared like for like against anywhere else you are looking.
These four scores answer one question: compared with similar colleges, is this one worth the money? Each runs 0 to 100 and is judged only against its peer group (2-Year), so a community college is never marked down for not being Harvard. Everything is computed from federal data. Nobody can pay to move a score, and a pillar with missing data is left unscored rather than guessed.
Good
69/100
UCD Score · 2-Year
Outcomes67
Value56
Affordability37
Selectivity—
Admissions & Acceptance Rate
As a two-year college, Southwestern Community College admits essentially everyone who qualifies, so plan around cost and completion instead of your odds of getting in.
Acceptance Rate
Open
SAT Range (25th–75th)
—
Not reported
ACT Range (25th–75th)
—
Not reported
Cost & Financial Aid
Ignore the sticker price. What matters is the net price, which is what a typical family pays here after grants and scholarships come off. At $9,871 a year on average, it sits well below what public colleges charge nationally. At that level cost is rarely the reason to rule a college out. Figures are College Scorecard 2023-24.
Published cost of attendance, the sticker price before grants and scholarships. Most students underestimate room & board and other expenses.
Tuition & Fees (in-state)
$8,064
Tuition & Fees (out-of-state)
$8,316
Room & Board (on-campus)
$8,910
Room & Board (off-campus)
$8,910
Books & Supplies
$1,386
Other Expenses (on-campus)
$1,802
Other Expenses (off-campus)
$3,439
Total Cost of Attendance
$16,951
Net Price by Family Income
Aid is need-based, so net price varies by family income. Here's what each bracket typically pays after grants and scholarships.
Under $30,000
$7,137
$30,001 – $48,000
$8,440
$48,001 – $75,000
$10,118
$75,001 – $110,000
$12,444
Over $110,000
$14,449
Debt at Graduation
Cumulative federal-loan debt across the full borrowing distribution. The 10th and 90th percentiles bracket the typical range; the median sits in the middle.
$2,00010%percentile
$3,50025%percentile
$10,975Medianpercentile
$12,00075%percentile
$19,00090%percentile
Median Debt by Student Type
Median federal-loan debt at graduation broken down by demographic. Each slice's size is proportional to the dollar amount that group typically borrows.
GroupDebtvs Median
Pell recipients $8,873
↓ $2,102
No Pell $5,500
↓ $5,475
Dependent students $5,500
↓ $5,475
Independent students $9,500
↓ $1,475
Female students $8,750
↓ $2,225
Male students $5,500
↓ $5,475
Worth knowing:
Students who don't finish leave with a median debt of $5,500, less than completers ($10,975), but still a meaningful obligation without a degree in hand.
Graduation Rate & Retention
42% of students who start here finish within six years, and 71% come back after first year. Fewer than half finish in six years. Ask what support exists for students who fall behind. Source: IPEDS 2023-24.
Completion and earnings carry the most weight in this college's score, and how the UCD Score weighs each measure sets out exactly how they are combined.
6-Year Graduation Rate
42%
Of students who graduate within six years
First-Year Retention
71%
Returning for their second year
After Graduation: Earnings & Outcomes
Ten years after starting here, the median student earns $40,129 a year, close to the national median. Typical for most colleges, so what you study will matter more than where. Source: College Scorecard 2023-24.
Median Earnings (10 yrs)
$40,129
Earning > $25K
68%
10 yrs after entry
Earnings Growth After Graduation
Median annual earnings 6, 8, and 10 years after students first enrolled.
Earnings by Demographic
Mean annual earnings 10 years after entry, segmented by demographic. Reveals gaps the headline median can't show.
By Gender
Female graduates
$32,000
Median earnings for female grads ten years after first enrolling here.
Male graduates
$37,500
Median earnings for male grads ten years after first enrolling here.
By Family Income at Entry
Family income (lowest third)
$31,000
Earnings of grads from the bottom-third of family incomes at entry.
Family income (middle third)
$34,800
Earnings of grads from the middle-third of family incomes at entry.
Family income (highest third)
$41,700
Earnings of grads from the top-third of family incomes at entry.
The gender gap:
Male graduates earn $5,500, about 15% more than female graduates ten years out. The gap reflects industry mix, role choice, and structural pay differences that exist across most US colleges.
Loan Repayment Progression
Share of completer-cohort borrowers paying down at least $1 of principal at the 1-, 3-, 5-, and 7-year mark. Climbing rates show graduates settling into careers and managing debt; flat or declining rates are a warning.
Climbing: graduates increasingly paying down debt ↑
15.8 pts
across 6 years
What this signals:
Strong. 71% of graduates are actively reducing their debt seven years out.
Who Studies Here
Who you would actually be sitting next to: 729 students, a small, close-knit community. Worth knowing: 39% are the first in their family to go to college.
Total Enrolled
729
Part-Time
27%
First-Generation
39%
Race & Ethnicity Breakdown
Undergraduate student body composition reported to the US Department of Education.
GroupShareStudents
White 80.4%586
Hispanic 7.5%55
Black 4.7%34
International 3.8%28
Other 2.3%17
Asian 0.6%4
Student Life & Campus Culture
Where students live, learn, and connect at Southwestern Community College. The campus setting, housing profile, and signals that shape day-to-day life here.
Southwestern Community College offers
a varied set of programs:
31 distinct programs across
15 majors.
Below are its strongest majors, each with flagship programs and typical earnings.
Open a major to explore it in depth, or browse the full program catalog.
There are 16 students for every instructor here: about average, so expect a mix of small seminars and big lectures.
Student : Faculty
16:1
Students per instructional faculty member
Instruction / Student
$13,503
Annual instructional spending per enrolled student
Endowment
$2.8M
Modest endowment
Avg Faculty Salary
$50,564
9-month equivalent across all ranks
Faculty by Rank
39 instructional faculty across 1 ranks.
The rank mix shows how many senior faculty are teaching versus contingent or junior staff, with average salary equated to a 9-month contract.
Rank
Faculty Count
Share
Avg Salary
Instructors
39
100%
$50,564
Pros & Cons of Southwestern Community College
No college is right for everyone. Here is where Southwestern Community College is likely to suit you and where it may not, based on the same figures shown above.
Predominantly serves middle- and upper-income families
Best for:
Based on the data, Southwestern Community College is a fit for
students who want a clear path to start college without a competitive admissions barrier; families focused on keeping net cost low; students who thrive in small, close-knit environments.
Frequently Asked Questions about Southwestern Community College
The questions families ask most about Southwestern Community College, answered straight from the federal data rather than from the college's own marketing.
Is Southwestern Community College hard to get into?
Not especially. Southwestern Community College admits most qualified applicants, and reports no competitive acceptance rate. Plan around cost and whether students finish, not your odds of getting in.
What is the acceptance rate at Southwestern Community College?
No acceptance rate is reported, which for a college like this normally means admission is open to anyone meeting the basic requirements. Confirm with the admissions office rather than assuming it.
How much does Southwestern Community College cost?
Budget around $9,871 a year. That is the net price, what families typically pay once grants and scholarships come off, not the sticker price. Your own figure depends on household income, so treat this as a midpoint rather than a quote. Source: College Scorecard 2023-24.
Is Southwestern Community College worth it?
On the numbers, yes: solid return on investment. Ten years in, the median graduate earns $40,129 a year against a net price of $9,871, about 4.1 dollars of earnings for every dollar of annual cost. That ratio ignores whether you finish and what you study, which matter just as much. Source: College Scorecard 2023-24.
What is Southwestern Community College known for?
Mostly Liberal Arts, Practical Nursing, Nursing. Those are the fields where it awards the most degrees, which is a better guide to where the teaching strength sits than any reputation ranking. Source: IPEDS 2023-24.
What do Southwestern Community College graduates earn?
About $40,129 a year, measured ten years after students first enrolled. Half earn more and half earn less, and what you study moves that figure far more than where you study. Source: College Scorecard 2023-24.
Is Southwestern Community College accredited?
Yes. Southwestern Community College is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.
How many students attend Southwestern Community College?
729 students. Small enough that you will recognize faces across campus, and small enough that course choice can be limited. Source: IPEDS 2023-24.
What is the graduation rate at Southwestern Community College?
42% finish within six years. That means most students do not finish in six years. Ask the school directly what support exists for students who fall behind. Source: IPEDS 2023-24.
Is Southwestern Community College a public or private college?
It is Public. Public, so in-state students usually pay materially less than everyone else.
Where is Southwestern Community College located?
Southwestern Community College is located in Creston, Iowa.
What programs does Southwestern Community College offer?
31 different programs, most commonly Liberal Arts, Practical Nursing, Nursing. If the subject you want is not among them, check the full list before applying rather than assuming it is offered.
What is the student-to-faculty ratio at Southwestern Community College?
16 students per instructor. About average, so a mix of seminars and larger lectures. Source: IPEDS 2023-24.
Related Colleges in Iowa
Other colleges in Iowa share the same applicant pool, regional economy, and academic landscape. Comparing nearby options puts admissions, costs, and outcomes in context, useful when weighing your fit against local alternatives.
Liberal Arts
Agricultural Production Operations
Nursing
Related Guides
Free, data-backed guides to help you decide, built on the same federal data as this profile.
H
How to Build Your College List Pillar
The full process of narrowing from 3,811 US colleges to a shortlist of ~10. Cost, location, size, selectivity, and fit factors that actually predict whether you'll thrive.
What actually makes a college work for first-generation students, the support and aid signals that predict success, and how to find the schools that deliver them using federal data.
How to find the colleges that deliver the strongest return on a STEM degree by weighing earnings outcomes against net cost, rather than chasing the most selective name.
Original data analyses built on the same federal data as this profile. Rankings, outliers, and patterns, no opinions.
American Colleges by the Numbers
One federal dataset, 3,811 colleges. The median school costs $16,296 a year, admits 78% of applicants, and enrolls 1,280 students. The shape of US higher ed.
Higher education data
Net price
College enrollment
Acceptance rate
College ownership
Do Selective Schools Actually Graduate More Students?
Across 1,645 four-year colleges, graduation rates climb steadily with selectivity, from 54% at open-admission schools to 93% at the most exclusive. The gap is real.
Graduation rate
Acceptance rate
Selectivity
Completion
College outcomes
For-Profit Colleges Charge the Most and Pay the Least
For-profit colleges post the highest median net price of any sector and the lowest graduate earnings. They cost more than private nonprofits and pay less than publics.
For-profit colleges
Net price
Earnings
College ROI
College ownership
Continue Exploring
Browse our full directory: every college, major, program, and career we track, all built from verified government data.
