Is Kishwaukee College Worth It?

Kishwaukee College keeps costs low and debt lower, which is the core of its financial case. You borrow a median that stays under $10,000, and you graduate owing less than the price of a used car. That low-debt setup is what makes the middling median earnings survivable.

The nursing program is the reason to come here. It out-earns every other associate track by nearly $18,000 a year over the next-closest option, allied health. Those two health credentials are the payoff programs, and they connect directly to steady hospital and clinic demand in northern Illinois. If a nursing or allied health seat is your goal, the math works.

Everything else is a harder sell financially. The biological and physical sciences, vehicle maintenance, and liberal arts tracks all land near or below $27,000, and liberal arts sits under $23,000 while still carrying more debt than the science track. Treat those as transfer stepping stones toward a four-year degree, not as end points. Cashing out with a liberal arts associate here does not pay.

The biggest risk is finishing at all. Fewer than four in ten graduate, so the low sticker price only helps if you complete. Enrolling, borrowing, and leaving without the credential is the failure mode that hurts most.

The net price tiers reward lower-income families. If your family earns under $30,000, you pay less than half what a $75,000-to-$110,000 household pays for the same year. Above $48,000, the price nearly doubles, so the value edge narrows as income rises.

Come here for nursing or allied health, or to transfer cheaply toward a bachelor's. Look elsewhere if you plan to stop at a general studies associate and expect it to fund your life.