Is Copiah-Lincoln Community College Worth It?

Copiah-Lincoln keeps your costs low and your debt small, but the payoff depends heavily on which program you pick. With a median debt around $7,400 and a net price under $3,500 a year, you won't dig yourself into a deep hole here. The problem is the median earnings figure: ten years out, the typical graduate lands near $31,000, which is thin even for Mississippi. Low debt only helps if your earnings clear it, and for many programs here they barely do.

The programs that pay off are the technical and health tracks. Vehicle maintenance and industrial production associate degrees both push past $53,000, and the registered nursing associate degree sits close behind at $52,000. Those three roughly double the school-wide median, and they line up with the manufacturing and healthcare jobs common in southwest Mississippi. The allied health associate degree drops to about $37,000, a real step down. The precision metal working certificate is the weak spot at $22,420 , below what the average graduate earns and barely above what a full-time minimum-wage job pays.

The financial risk here is picking the wrong program. The gap between the top trades and the metalworking certificate is more than $30,000 a year, so the credential you choose matters far more than the school's overall numbers suggest. A 51.6% graduation rate also means roughly half of you don't finish, and an unfinished credential leaves you with cost and no earnings bump.

This school fits you if you're heading into the vehicle, industrial, or nursing tracks and want to keep debt near zero. If your family earns under $48,000, your net price stays under $2,800 , a genuine bargain. Above $48,000 the price roughly doubles, and over $110,000 you'll pay around $10,300. Look elsewhere if you're aiming for the low-earning certificate paths.