Is Butler Community College Worth It?

Butler Community College carries a financial risk that's hard to ignore: at roughly $16,000 a year in net price, it costs more than most community colleges, and fewer than one in three students finishes. If you take on the cost and leave without a credential, you get the debt and none of the earnings payoff. That's the central gamble here.

The payoff depends almost entirely on your program. Nursing is the clear winner, with median earnings near $48,000 and a credential that plugs directly into hospitals and clinics across Kansas. Computer and IT administration lands in the high $30,000s and holds up reasonably against its cost. After that, the numbers drop off fast. Accounting graduates earn around $27,000 while carrying nearly $22,000 in debt, the worst cost-to-earnings mix on the list. Hospitality management and general liberal arts both land in the mid-$20,000s, barely above what you'd expect without the associate degree, though the liberal arts debt load stays low at under $10,000.

The net price tiers are unusually flat at the bottom. If your family earns under $48,000, you pay around $14,000 either way, and even the lowest-income tier still owes over $14,000 a year. There's little discount for being poor here. Families over $110,000 pay about $20,000. Median debt overall sits at a manageable $10,500, so the debt risk is smaller than the completion risk.

Butler is a good fit for you if you're set on nursing or IT and confident you'll finish. Those two paths justify the cost. If you're undecided, drawn to accounting, or planning to coast through general studies, the price and the low graduation rate make this a weak bet. Look at cheaper transfer routes or a program with a clearer job on the other end.