Study: EPCC lands on bottom of list when it comes to best community colleges

Yahoo

2 days ago

El Paso Community College ranked towards the bottom of the list when it comes to best community colleges across the country, according to one recent study.
EPCC ranked 593 out of 653 schools in WalletHub's "Best and Worst Community Colleges 2025." In order to determine the best community colleges in the U.S., WalletHub evaluated the hundreds of schools based on cost and financing, education outcomes and career outcomes.
Source: WalletHub
El Paso Times reached out to EPCC for comment on the study, but has not heard back.
Here's where EPCC ranked in those three categories.
For cost and financing, EPCC ranked 590, which took into account the cost of in-state tuition and fees, plus grants and scholarship aid received. The college also ranked 447 in education outcomes, which includes first-year retention and graduation rates, and 493 in career outcomes, which looked at student loan rates, and median salary after graduation.
According to the EPCC website, the cost of full-time tuition is $1,632 and 88% of students receive financial aid. The college had an overall graduation rate of 21%, with a four-year graduation rate of 62%, according to EPCC, which cited a 2021-22 report by Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System.
In Sept. 2024, EPCC President Dr. William Serrata gave his annual State of the College address and said 32% of students were enrolled full-time, up by three percent from Fall 2023. Serrata said there were also increases in financial aid processing, including $24.4 million in Pell grants received.
EPCC's dual credit program also has a 63.2% graduation rate, which provides high school students the opportunity to earn college credits.
Top Community Colleges in the Country
The top five community colleges, according to the WalletHub study, are:
State Technical College of Missouri (Linn, Missouri)
Manhattan Area Technical College (Manhattan, Kansas)
Pratt Community College (Pratt, Kansas)
Woodland Community College (Woodland, California)
De Anza College (Cupertino, California)
State Technical College of Missouri, located in Osage County, topped the list because 90% of students stay with the school from the first year to the second year, the best retention rate in the country, and 79% of students graduate — the best graduation rate in the country, according to WalletHub.
Natassia Paloma may be reached at [e-mail], @NatassiaPaloma on Twitter; natassia_paloma on Instagram, and Natassia Paloma Thompson on Facebook.
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This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Study: El Paso Community College ranks as one of the worst in US
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