Is Coahoma Community College Worth It?

Coahoma Community College costs almost nothing to attend, and that's the strongest thing its numbers have going for it. Net price sits at $560 a year, so you can walk away with little or no debt. But median earnings ten years out land near $24,000, which is below what many high school graduates earn and barely above minimum-wage full-time work in Mississippi. The low cost is the whole case here, because the earnings side is weak.

The one program that pays is nursing. Its associate graduates clear roughly $58,000, more than triple what the next-best program returns. Everything else on the list drags. General studies grads earn under $19,000, health prep programs sit around $15,000, criminal justice near $13,000, and the cosmetology certificate under $11,000. If you enroll in anything other than nursing, the financial payoff is thin to nonexistent.

The specific risk is the 38% graduation rate. Even a nearly free program stops paying if you leave without a credential, and roughly six in ten students here don't finish on time. The nursing return also assumes you get into and complete a competitive clinical track, not that you simply enroll.

The net price tiers are unusually flat. If your family earns under $75,000, you pay somewhere between $300 and $800 a year. Above $110,000 it climbs to about $6,100, still low by any standard. Low income doesn't disadvantage you on cost here.

This school fits you if you're aiming for the nursing program, or if you want a cheap way to knock out credits before transferring elsewhere for a bachelor's. If you enroll in general studies, cosmetology, or criminal justice expecting the degree alone to lift your income, look at the earnings and plan around them.