10-yr median earnings
$39,254
Federal aid recipients only
Public · Houston, Texas
Houston City College
Houston City College is a public institution in Houston, Texas. as a public institution, published Scorecard outcomes are the federal Title-IV cohort view of former students — not every graduate and not a guarantee for any one enrollee.
- $5,737
- Avg net price / yr
- $39,254
- 10-yr median earnings
- 16.8%
- 150%-time completion
The verdict
Houston City College posts modest former-student earnings.
According to the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard.
- 45th pct.
- former-student earnings, US
- 16.8%
- 150%-time completion
- +25%
- earnings, 6→10 yrs
City: Large
Carnegie: Associate's
Institution data retrieved July 2026; field-of-study data retrieved March 2026.
How to read this Houston City College profile
Figures above come from IPEDS institution records published through the College Scorecard (retrieved July 2026 for institution fields; March 2026 for field-of-study). Peer groups and cost cohorts follow IPEDS ownership sector, Carnegie class ("Associate's Colleges: High Transfer-High Traditional"), and locale, not an editorial shortlist.
Average net price subtracts grant and scholarship aid from cost of attendance for full-time, first-time undergraduate Title IV recipients. It is a defined cohort average, not a personalized price; income-band fields add context but do not replace the school's current net-price calculator.
Earnings use Treasury-linked records for federally aided former students who were working and not enrolled in the measurement year (completers and noncompleters). IPEDS completion and retention use separate first-time, full-time cohorts, so those denominators are not the earnings cohort. Read cost, completion, and earnings as distinct historical measures, not a causal verdict or individual forecast.
College Value Score
D
College Value Score
45/100
Houston City College
A 6-metric composite of earnings, cost, and completion outcomes benchmarked against every reporting US college, not a ranking of teaching quality, campus life, or fit for any individual student. See the full methodology.
Earnings D
$39,254
10-year median former-student earnings
Net Price A+
$5,737
Average annual cost after grants and aid
Completion Rate F
16.8%
Completion within 150% of normal time
Debt D
$13,921
Median federal debt at graduation
Loan Repayment F
45.1%
Borrowers repaying loans within 3 years
Retention N/A
N/A
First-year students returning for year two
Each axis is the percentile score shown in the breakdown at left; the shape shows this school's overall profile at a glance.
Avg net price
$5,737
After grants and scholarships
150%-time completion
16.8%
Full-time, first-time cohort
150%-time completion vs portal median (57.1%) 16.8%
Four-year-institution cohort
College ROI Quadrant - Houston City College vs peers
Each dot is a college plotted by 10-year median earnings (x-axis) vs average net price (y-axis), colored by completion within 150% of normal time. Bottom-right = high earnings/lower price; top-left = lower earnings/higher price.
How Houston City College ranks nationally
Where this school's former-student earnings fall within the full national distribution of every US college that reports to the College Scorecard, not just its peer set.
Houston City College: former-student earnings vs. every US college
10-year median earnings, College Scorecard
$39,254 45th percentile higher than 45% of 5,103 US colleges
Each bar is a $20K-wide band; taller bars hold more US colleges. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard · Mar–Jul 2026 retrievals
| Metric | Houston City College | National rank | Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-yr median earnings | $39,254 | #2805 of 5103 | 45th |
| Average net price | $5,737 | #439 of 5020 | 91st (lower is better) |
| 150%-time completion | 16.8% | #4746 of 4858 | 2nd |
| Undergraduate enrollment | 40,503 | #24 of 5462 | 100th |
National ranks count every operating US college reporting each metric to the College Scorecard, separate from the earnings histogram above.
Quick Facts
40,503
Undergraduate enrollment
-
Acceptance rate
-
SAT average
16.8%
150%-time completion
$39,254
10-yr median earnings
-
First-year retention
How Houston City College ranks in Texas
State rank among 324 reporting Texas colleges with College Scorecard data, a separate lens from the national distribution above.
| Metric | Houston City College | State rank | Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-yr median earnings | $39,254 | #145 of 324 | 55th |
| Average net price | $5,737 | #35 of 340 | 90th (lower is better) |
| 150%-time completion | 16.8% | #315 of 324 | 3rd |
| Undergraduate enrollment | 40,503 | #6 of 366 | 98th |
Highest former-student earnings in Texas
| # | School | 10-yr earnings | Net price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Coast University-Texas | $102,672 | $53,020 |
| 2 | University of North Texas Health Science Center | $93,615 | - |
| 3 | The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston | $92,961 | - |
| 4 | Chamberlain University-Texas | $92,405 | $32,209 |
| 5 | Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center | $92,348 | - |
| 6 | The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center | $90,232 | - |
| 7 | Rice University | $89,718 | $13,370 |
| 8 | The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston | $88,757 | - |
| 9 | The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio | $82,206 | - |
| 10 | Denver College of Nursing-Houston | $81,809 | - |
| 11 | Covenant School of Nursing and Allied Health | $78,724 | - |
| 12 | Southern Methodist University | $78,354 | $40,892 |
| 145 | Houston City CollegeThis school | $39,254 | $5,737 |
Costs & Financial Aid
Net price by family income at Houston City College
Average annual net price after grants; Title IV recipient cohort by income bracket
- $0 – $30k
$0 – $30k
$5,722 net price / yr
- $30k – $48k
$30k – $48k
$4,271 net price / yr
- $48k – $75k
$48k – $75k
$6,534 net price / yr
- $110k+
$110k+
$10,123 net price / yr
What this shows Need-based aid pulls net price down at lower brackets at Houston City College - compare the bar for your income band, not the overall average alone.
Tuition & Net Price
| In-State Tuition | $2,040 |
| Out-of-State Tuition | $5,460 |
| Average Net Price | $5,737 |
35.7%
Pell Grant Rate
14.6%
Federal Loan Rate
$13,921
Median Debt
$148/mo
Monthly Payment
Net price at Houston City College swings rather than trends
Across 11 reported years between 2013 and 2023, the average net price here has ranged from $4,813 to $9,646 without settling into a rise or a fall. Comparing only the first and last years would read as -22.3%, but the years in between do not follow that line, so the honest summary is the range rather than a trend. Budget against the upper end, not the average.
Lowest year
$4,813
Highest year
$9,646
Most recent (2023)
$6,738
11 reported years. Nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation.
2013 · $8,6712023 · $6,738
Over the same years, enrollment went -34.2% (57,742 → 37,970 students).
Source: U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, per-year fields (2013–2023). Net price is the average cost after grant and scholarship aid for federally-aided undergraduates.
Student Demographics
Race & ethnicity
Student body at a glance
59.4%
Female
49.9%
First Generation
Outcomes
$31,319
Median Earnings (6yr)
53.3%
Earning Over $25K
45.1%
Loan Repayment, Completers (3yr)
Outcomes & debt snapshot
| Measure | Cohort / horizon | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Completion within 150% of normal time | First-time, full-time | 16.8% |
| Median earnings | 6 years after entry | $31,319 |
| Median earnings | 10 years after entry | $39,254 |
| Share earning over $25,000 | Working, not enrolled | 53.3% |
| Loan repayment rate | Completers, 3 years after leaving | 45.1% |
| Median federal student debt | At completion | $13,921 |
| Estimated monthly payment | Standard 10-year plan | $148/mo |
Programs & Earnings
Field-of-study summary by credential
| Credential | Programs | Award count | Avg earnings | Top earnings | Avg debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Associate's | 26 | 4,700 | $54,921 | $89,002 | $17,571 |
| Certificate | 16 | 818 | $43,860 | $75,287 | $12,210 |
Top programs at Houston City College by completer earnings
Median earnings of program completers, College Scorecard field-of-study file
- Registered Nursing, Nursin…
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing
$89,002 median earnings
- Engineering Science
Engineering Science
$80,602 median earnings
- Allied Health Diagnostic, …
Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions
$80,188 median earnings
- Dental Support Services an…
Dental Support Services and Allied Professions
$78,980 median earnings
- Allied Health Diagnostic, …
Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions
$75,287 median earnings
- Physical Science Technolog…
Physical Science Technologies/Technicians
$74,124 median earnings
- Mining and Petroleum Techn…
Mining and Petroleum Technologies/Technicians
$73,729 median earnings
- Clinical/Medical Laborator…
Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science/Research and Allied Professions
$63,664 median earnings
What this shows The highest-earning programs at a school are not necessarily its most popular ones - a small specialized program can post strong median earnings without reflecting the outcome most students here actually see.
Explore Data-Matched Colleges
Matches use Scorecard measures among reporting colleges — not state-system recommendations or geographic proximity.
Similar Enrollment and Sector
Other Public institutions closest in reported enrollment, preferring the same Carnegie classification.
Similar Reported Net Price
Other Public institutions with the nearest reported average net price.
Southeast New Mexico College
Carlsbad, NM
$5,734 net price · $3 apart
Ohio University-Zanesville Campus
Zanesville, OH
$5,746 net price · $9 apart
Warren County Community College
Washington, NJ
$5,726 net price · $11 apart
Gateway Community and Technical College
Florence, KY
$5,725 net price · $12 apart
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the admissions statistics for Houston City College? ▼
Houston City College is a public institution in Houston, Texas. Undergraduate enrollment is 40,503 students.
How much do Houston City College former students earn? ▼
Federally aided former students at Houston City College who were working and not enrolled had median earnings of $39,254 ten years after entry; the cohort is not limited to graduates. Six years after entry, the corresponding median is $31,319.
How much does Houston City College cost? ▼
The average net price at Houston City College is $5,737. In-state tuition is $2,040 and out-of-state tuition is $5,460. Median student debt at graduation is $13,921.
What is the graduation rate at Houston City College? ▼
Houston City College has a 16.8% completion rate within 150% of normal time at a four-year institution (typically six years for a bachelor’s program).
Is Houston City College worth the student debt? ▼
The median student debt at Houston City College is $13,921, while former students earn a median of $39,254 ten years after enrollment. That debt represents about 35% of those annual earnings. Among borrowers who completed their program, 45.1% are repaying their loans within 3 years. Estimated monthly loan payment is $148.
Sources & methodology
Public-college profiles lean on IPEDS enrollment and Scorecard Title-IV outcomes. State appropriations are outside this page; the figures below are the federal cohort measures only.
Every number is read live from the Mar–Jul 2026 Scorecard/IPEDS retrievals. Public institutions often enroll large Title-IV cohorts, so medians can be stable — still cohort averages, never a personal forecast. Read the full methodology for how the data is sourced, computed, and verified.
- College Scorecard, U.S. Department of Education - former-student earnings, cost & completion (collegescorecard.ed.gov).
- IPEDS, National Center for Education Statistics - enrollment, admissions, Carnegie class & demographics (nces.ed.gov/ipeds).
- U.S. Treasury / IRS earnings linkage - median earnings 6 & 10 years after enrollment for federal-aid recipients (irs.gov).
- College Scorecard, Field of Study - program-level (credential) earnings & debt (collegescorecard.ed.gov).
- Federal Student Aid (Title IV / NSLDS) - U.S. Department of Education - net price, student debt & aid-recipient repayment outcomes (studentaid.gov).
Where to go next from Houston City College
- Compare Houston City College against schools with similar outcomes at a lower average net price.Find similar schools that cost less
- Browse every reporting college in Texas side by side.Browse Texas
- See how fields of study differ on former-student earnings and debt.Explore programs
Public-college Scorecard figures are historical Title-IV cohort averages — confirm current tuition, aid, and admissions rules with the institution before deciding.
Every figure on PlainCollege is rendered directly from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard data, no number is typed in by an editor. Public-institution profiles compile Scorecard Title-IV earnings, IPEDS enrollment/admissions, and Treasury linkage fields — no editor-typed figures. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error on this page. Review the public data changelog. Data current as of Mar–Jul 2026 retrievals.