Is Prince George's Community College Worth It?

Prince George's Community College runs on a familiar community-college math: low debt, low cost, and outcomes that depend almost entirely on what you study. Median debt sits near a single year of net price, so you won't leave buried in loans. But the 25% graduation rate is the number that should worry you most, because none of the earnings figures apply to you if you don't finish.

Your major decides everything here. The nursing associate degree is the clear winner, paying enough to clear your debt fast and land you in a Maryland and D.C.-area healthcare market that keeps hiring. Allied health follows close behind on similar terms. Criminal justice pays middle-of-the-road. The problem is the bottom: general business and liberal arts graduates earn less than the school's overall median, and liberal arts students borrow roughly as much as allied health students who out-earn them by more than $30,000. If you enroll in liberal arts as a stopping point, that's a weak financial bet unless you transfer to a four-year school and finish a bachelor's.

The net price tiers are unusual: you pay more as your family earns more, topping out for families above $110k. Lower-income families get the best deal here, and the gap between the cheapest and most expensive tier is about $5,000 a year.

This school fits you if you want a nursing or allied health credential and plan to work in the region afterward. It also works as a cheap first two years before transferring. It's a poor fit if you enroll without a clear program, since the low completion rate and soft earnings in general-studies tracks mean you can pay for two years and walk away with little to show.