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Community college · Public

Rend Lake College

Spring Garden Township, IL127 online only

Rend Lake College is a public community college in Spring Garden Township, IL, with about 1,744 students on campus.

Visit www.rlc.edu ↗Directions
Students on campus
1,744
plus 127 studying only online
Admission rate
Open
open enrollment
Net price a year
$9,187
tuition and fees $4,500; the net price adds housing and food
Graduation rate
63%
lower than at 52% of 2-year colleges
Earnings, 10 yrs later
$35,775
lower than at 66% of U.S. colleges
In brief

The short version on Rend Lake College

Loan payments are a small share of pay

The typical graduate owes $5,809, about $62 a month over ten years. That’s 2.5% of a typical former student’s monthly pay six years after starting. Outcomes ↓

Rent in Spring Garden Township is below the state median

Median rent in Spring Garden Township is $786 a month, 38% below the state median. Living in Spring Garden Township ↓

This summary is written from the data on this page. Figures are from the U.S. Department of Education’s College Scorecard.

★ What stands out · Outcomes

Do students finish, and does it pay off?

Graduate
63%
within 3 years · Pell students 57%
Come back for year two
64%
full-time first-year students
Earnings, 10 years later
$35,775
median, students on federal aid
Typical debt
$5,809
about $62 a month over 10 years

Debt vs. the paycheck

The typical loan payment as a share of a typical graduate’s monthly pay six years after starting

2.5%
0%10%: a common comfort line25%

$62 a month against about $2,485 a month in pay.

Paying back loans

Federal student loans, this college

41%

of borrowers paid down at least some of their loan within three years, more than at 42% of U.S. colleges.

Almost none defaulted within three years (payments on federal loans were paused from 2020 to 2023, so recent default rates are near zero everywhere).

Earnings by family background

Median earnings 10 years after starting, by family income at enrollment

Lower incomeunder $30k
$32k
Middle income$30–75k
$43k
Higher incomeover $75k
$49k
Getting in

How hard is it to get into Rend Lake College?

Open

anyone with a high school diploma can enroll

Test scores of admitted students

No SAT or ACT ranges reported. Rend Lake College is likely test-optional.

What it costs

The sticker price, and what families really pay

Sticker price: $16,731 a year

Before any grants · out-of-state tuition $7,800

Tuition & fees (in state) $4,500Books & supplies $400Other costs $11,831

After grants, the average family on aid pays $9,187.

Tuition and fees are $4,500 a year. The net price also counts housing, food and other costs at full price, so a student living at home pays less than it shows.

Your family’s price

Average net price after grants, by family income

$10,818

About $21,636 over 2 years · 35% off the sticker price

Under $30k$30–48k$48–75k$75–110kOver $110k
Majors

What students study, and what it pays

Share of degrees by field

Liberal arts 27%Mechanic & repair 17%Health professions 16%Interdisciplinary 9%Family & consumer sciences 6%Business 5%Everything else 21%

Associate degree programs with the most graduates

And their graduates’ median earnings four years later (one year where that’s all that’s reported).

Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities151 graduates a year
$42k4 yrs out
Biological and Physical Sciences145 graduates a year
$42k4 yrs out
Heavy/Industrial Equipment Maintenance Technologies/Technicians31 graduates a year
—not reported
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing28 graduates a year
$74k4 yrs out
Agricultural Mechanization25 graduates a year
—not reported
Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions23 graduates a year
$66k4 yrs out
Agricultural Business and Management19 graduates a year
—not reported
Precision Metal Working8 graduates a year
—not reported
Who goes there

The students

1,175 degree-seeking undergraduates.

By race and ethnicity

White 85%Hispanic 3%Black 7%Asian 1%Two or more 4%

Women and men

Women 62%Men 38%
19 : 1
students per teacher
30%
get Pell grants (lower income)
0%
take federal loans
18%
undergrads 25 or older
26%
study part time
The town around it

Living in Spring Garden Township

3% of Spring Garden Township’s 2,522 residents are enrolled in college. What the town is like, from TownRatings’ Spring Garden Township pages.

Spring Garden Township →
$786/momedian rent · 38% below the state$105Kmedian home value · 60% below the state24° / 88°January low / July high · 8" of snowCHealth GradeAll colleges in and near Spring Garden TownshipCompare prices, admissions and outcomes
Nearby

Other colleges within 30 miles

Straight-line distances from Rend Lake College; colleges with 100 or more students on campus.

John A. Logan CollegeCommunity college · Public · Carterville
28.1 mi2,766 students

Ask around

Students, parents, alumni and the neighbors next door.

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Sources: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (institution and field-of-study files) and IPEDS (Scorecard 06/10/2026 · IPEDS 2024 · fall 2023); town figures from the Census American Community Survey and NOAA climate normals. Graduation rates count first-time, full-time students; earnings and debt are for students who received federal aid. Distances are straight-line. Colleges are described, not graded (how TownRatings describes colleges). Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.