SOWELA Technical Community College
Lake Charles, Louisiana
SOWELA Technical Community College is a public institution in Lake Charles, Louisiana enrolling 2,966 students, according to the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard.. Graduates earn a median of $32,303 ten years after enrollment, based on U.S. Treasury tax records linked to federal financial aid data. The average net price after financial aid is $7,525. This profile includes admissions data, graduation rates, program-level earnings, and cost breakdowns to help students compare colleges using official federal data.
What the IPEDS & College Scorecard Data Shows for SOWELA Technical Community College
SOWELA Technical Community College operates as a public institution located in Lake Charles, Louisiana (city: small), with a total reported enrollment of 2,966 students of which 4,500 are undergraduates. Institution-level records in the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) classify each school by Carnegie category, ownership sector, and urban/rural locale, which is how this profile’s peer group and cost cohort are determined. SOWELA Technical Community College is categorized as “7” under the Carnegie classification system, a meaningful signal when comparing like-to-like institutions.
Selectivity and financial signals give context to what applicants can expect. Admission rate data is not currently reported for this institution. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $7,525, with published in-state tuition of $4,305 and a Pell grant recipient share of 45.6%.
Outcomes reveal whether the investment pays back. Four-year completion rate data is unavailable, rising to 43.0% at six years. Graduates earn a median of $32,303 ten years after enrolling, compared with $32,044 six years post-enrollment. Within three years of entering repayment, 2500.0% of borrowers are making progress on their federal loans, and 56.5% of graduates earn above the high-school threshold. Treating these numbers as a single snapshot alongside the cost cohort is the standard approach for evaluating ROI under the College Scorecard methodology.
Quick Facts
Costs & Financial Aid
Tuition & Net Price
| In-State Tuition | $4,305 |
| Out-of-State Tuition | $4,305 |
| Average Net Price | $7,525 |
Net Price by Family Income
| $0 – $30,000 | $7,439 |
| $30,001 – $48,000 | $6,864 |
| $48,001 – $75,000 | $8,411 |
Student Demographics
Outcomes
Programs & Earnings
| Program | Credential | Completers | Median Earnings | Median Debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Industrial Production Technologies/Technicians | Associate's | 101 | $127,701 | — |
| Electromechanical Technologies/Technicians | Associate's | 75 | $91,057 | — |
| Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing | Associate's | 37 | $71,515 | — |
| Electrical and Power Transmission Installers | Certificate | 183 | $63,577 | — |
| Drafting/Design Engineering Technologies/Technicians | Associate's | 10 | $55,019 | — |
| Electrical and Power Transmission Installers | Associate's | 58 | $52,083 | — |
| Accounting and Related Services | Associate's | 9 | $47,669 | — |
| Practical Nursing, Vocational Nursing and Nursing Assistants | Certificate | 44 | $46,806 | — |
| Business/Commerce, General | Associate's | 35 | $45,091 | — |
| Criminal Justice and Corrections | Associate's | 22 | $35,884 | — |
| Computer and Information Sciences, General | Associate's | 13 | $30,360 | — |
| Design and Applied Arts | Associate's | 15 | $24,035 | — |
| Business Operations Support and Assistant Services | Associate's | 3 | $22,903 | — |
Frequently Asked Questions
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Guides & Resources
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How College Scorecard measures outcomes
Compare costs, outcomes, and career paths
Related Colleges
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Related Data Sources
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Data Sources
Data as of 2024-25 academic year. Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard.
Primary: U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard. Data reflects most recent available year.
Institutional characteristics: IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System) institutional characteristics file.
Earnings: Median earnings 6 and 10 years after enrollment, from U.S. Treasury tax records linked to federal student aid data.
Program data: Credential-level earnings from the College Scorecard Field of Study dataset.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
All federal data sources used on this page
- NCES IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System) — enrollment, completions, finance, faculty for every U.S. college. nces.ed.gov/ipeds
- College Scorecard — U.S. Dept of Education outcomes data — earnings, debt, completion. collegescorecard.ed.gov
- NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) — K-12 → college transition data. nces.ed.gov/ccd
- NSC StudentTracker — enrollment and completion outcomes by institution. nscresearchcenter.org
- Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections — occupation outlook by education level. bls.gov/emp
- U.S. Census Bureau ACS — educational attainment + degree population. census.gov/programs-surveys/acs
Earnings data sourced from IRS records via the U.S. Treasury–Department of Education matching used by the College Scorecard.