10-yr median earnings
$49,020
Federal aid recipients only
Public · Columbia, Maryland
Howard Community College
Howard Community College is a public institution in Columbia, Maryland. 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.
- $11,133
- Avg net price / yr
- $49,020
- 10-yr median earnings
- 25.3%
- 150%-time completion
The verdict
Howard Community College posts above-median former-student earnings.
According to the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard.
- Top 31%
- former-student earnings, US
- 25.3%
- 150%-time completion
- +25%
- earnings, 6→10 yrs
City: Midsize
Carnegie: Associate's
Institution data retrieved July 2026; field-of-study data retrieved March 2026.
How to read this Howard Community 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-Mixed Traditional/Nontraditional"), 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
C-
College Value Score
54/100
Howard Community 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 B-
$49,020
10-year median former-student earnings
Net Price B
$11,133
Average annual cost after grants and aid
Completion Rate F
25.3%
Completion within 150% of normal time
Debt B-
$10,500
Median federal debt at graduation
Loan Repayment D
57.8%
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
$11,133
After grants and scholarships
150%-time completion
25.3%
Full-time, first-time cohort
150%-time completion vs portal median (57.1%) 25.3%
Less-than-four-year-institution cohort
College ROI Quadrant - Howard Community 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 Howard Community 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.
Howard Community College: former-student earnings vs. every US college
10-year median earnings, College Scorecard
$49,020 Top 31% higher than 69% 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 | Howard Community College | National rank | Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-yr median earnings | $49,020 | #1557 of 5103 | 69th |
| Average net price | $11,133 | #1336 of 5020 | 73rd (lower is better) |
| 150%-time completion | 25.3% | #4515 of 4858 | 7th |
| Undergraduate enrollment | 6,649 | #563 of 5462 | 90th |
National ranks count every operating US college reporting each metric to the College Scorecard, separate from the earnings histogram above.
Quick Facts
6,649
Undergraduate enrollment
-
Acceptance rate
-
SAT average
25.3%
150%-time completion
$49,020
10-yr median earnings
-
First-year retention
How Howard Community College ranks in Maryland
State rank among 66 reporting Maryland colleges with College Scorecard data, a separate lens from the national distribution above.
| Metric | Howard Community College | State rank | Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-yr median earnings | $49,020 | #26 of 66 | 61st |
| Average net price | $11,133 | #17 of 69 | 75th (lower is better) |
| 150%-time completion | 25.3% | #63 of 67 | 6th |
| Undergraduate enrollment | 6,649 | #10 of 74 | 86th |
Highest former-student earnings in Maryland
| # | School | 10-yr earnings | Net price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Maryland Baltimore | $88,174 | - |
| 2 | Johns Hopkins University | $87,555 | $18,809 |
| 3 | Capitol Technology University | $85,035 | $22,102 |
| 4 | University of Maryland-College Park | $82,860 | $15,678 |
| 5 | Loyola University Maryland | $82,652 | $30,574 |
| 6 | University of Maryland-Baltimore County | $69,960 | $16,467 |
| 7 | Ner Israel Rabbinical College | $66,330 | $13,572 |
| 8 | Washington College | $65,518 | $27,898 |
| 9 | Notre Dame of Maryland University | $65,344 | $19,169 |
| 10 | University of Maryland Global Campus | $65,287 | $22,063 |
| 11 | Towson University | $64,390 | $17,413 |
| 12 | Washington Adventist University | $64,249 | $18,526 |
| 26 | Howard Community CollegeThis school | $49,020 | $11,133 |
Costs & Financial Aid
Net price by family income at Howard Community College
Average annual net price after grants; Title IV recipient cohort by income bracket
- $0 – $30k
$0 – $30k
$9,714 net price / yr
- $30k – $48k
$30k – $48k
$9,924 net price / yr
- $48k – $75k
$48k – $75k
$12,198 net price / yr
- $110k+
$110k+
$15,881 net price / yr
What this shows Need-based aid pulls net price down at lower brackets at Howard Community College - compare the bar for your income band, not the overall average alone.
Tuition & Net Price
| In-State Tuition | $4,080 |
| Out-of-State Tuition | $9,624 |
| Average Net Price | $11,133 |
26.8%
Pell Grant Rate
7.4%
Federal Loan Rate
$10,500
Median Debt
$111/mo
Monthly Payment
2013–2023: what Howard Community College costs has stayed close to flat
Average net price moved +18.7% over 10 years, from $8,612 to $10,225 in nominal dollars. The median college measured over the same span moved +14.6%.
11 reported years. Nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation.
2013 · $8,6122023 · $10,225
Over the same years, enrollment went -27.0% (9,287 → 6,779 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
62.2%
Female
38.7%
First Generation
Outcomes
$39,195
Median Earnings (6yr)
55.3%
Earning Over $25K
57.8%
Loan Repayment, Completers (3yr)
Outcomes & debt snapshot
| Measure | Cohort / horizon | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Completion within 150% of normal time | First-time, full-time | 25.3% |
| Median earnings | 6 years after entry | $39,195 |
| Median earnings | 10 years after entry | $49,020 |
| Share earning over $25,000 | Working, not enrolled | 55.3% |
| Loan repayment rate | Completers, 3 years after leaving | 57.8% |
| Median federal student debt | At completion | $10,500 |
| Estimated monthly payment | Standard 10-year plan | $111/mo |
Programs & Earnings
Field-of-study summary by credential
| Credential | Programs | Award count | Avg earnings | Top earnings | Avg debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Associate's | 8 | 1,143 | $69,320 | $93,166 | $15,378 |
| Certificate | 1 | 8 | - | - | $11,994 |
Top programs at Howard Community 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
$93,166 median earnings
- Computer and Information S…
Computer and Information Sciences, General
$80,840 median earnings
- Dental Support Services an…
Dental Support Services and Allied Professions
$75,822 median earnings
- Allied Health Diagnostic, …
Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions
$73,439 median earnings
- Management Information Sys…
Management Information Systems and Services
$62,399 median earnings
- Business/Commerce, General
Business/Commerce, General
$52,569 median earnings
- Liberal Arts and Sciences,…
Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities
$47,008 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.
| Program | Credential | Completers | Median Earnings | Median Debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing | Associate's | 150 | $93,166 | $17,434 |
| Computer and Information Sciences, General | Associate's | 21 | $80,840 | - |
| Dental Support Services and Allied Professions | Associate's | 9 | $75,822 | - |
| Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions | Associate's | 59 | $73,439 | $19,200 |
| Management Information Systems and Services | Associate's | 63 | $62,399 | - |
| Business/Commerce, General | Associate's | 76 | $52,569 | - |
| Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities | Associate's | 753 | $47,008 | $9,500 |
| Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services | Associate's | 12 | - | - |
| Practical Nursing, Vocational Nursing and Nursing Assistants | Certificate | 8 | - | $11,994 |
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.
Similar 2013–2023 Net-Price Trend
Same-sector institutions with the same direction and nearest fitted annual change; only series with R² of at least 0.40 qualify.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the admissions statistics for Howard Community College? ▼
Howard Community College is a public institution in Columbia, Maryland. Undergraduate enrollment is 6,649 students.
How much do Howard Community College former students earn? ▼
Federally aided former students at Howard Community College who were working and not enrolled had median earnings of $49,020 ten years after entry; the cohort is not limited to graduates. Six years after entry, the corresponding median is $39,195.
How much does Howard Community College cost? ▼
The average net price at Howard Community College is $11,133. In-state tuition is $4,080 and out-of-state tuition is $9,624. Median student debt at graduation is $10,500.
What is the graduation rate at Howard Community College? ▼
Howard Community College has a 25.3% completion rate within 150% of normal program time at a less-than-four-year institution.
Is Howard Community College worth the student debt? ▼
The median student debt at Howard Community College is $10,500, while former students earn a median of $49,020 ten years after enrollment. That debt represents about 21% of those annual earnings. Among borrowers who completed their program, 57.8% are repaying their loans within 3 years. Estimated monthly loan payment is $111.
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 Howard Community College
- Compare Howard Community College against schools with similar outcomes at a lower average net price.Find similar schools that cost less
- Browse every reporting college in Maryland side by side.Browse Maryland
- 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.