Public · Community college

Carl Sandburg College

Galesburg, Illinois · Distant town

15%
Transfer rate: $3,662
Avg net price: 50%
Grad / completion: $35,274
Median earnings

Carl Sandburg College is a public associate-granting institution in Galesburg, Illinois (distant town setting), enrolling 1,051 undergraduates. Admission is open to all applicants.

PublicSmall · 1,051 undergradsDistant townNJCAA Division IICold winters

About Galesburg, Illinois

Galesburg is a city in Knox County, Illinois, United States. Galesburg was founded by George Washington Gale, a Presbyterian minister from New York state who had formulated the concept of the manual labor college and first implemented it at the Oneida Institute near Utica, New York. Galesburg is the birthplace of George Washington Gale Ferris Jr., inventor of the Ferris wheel. (Wikipedia)

Setting: Distant town
Highest degree offered: Associate
Nearest big city: 47 miles to Peoria, IL
To Great Lakes shore: 157 miles
Nearest airport: 33 miles to Quad City (MLI)

How Carl Sandburg College compares

Graduation rate50%

Higher than 37% · #73 of 122 in Illinois

First-year retention63%

Higher than 28%

Earnings, 10 years after entry$35,274

Higher than 50% · #58 of 113 in Illinois

Average net price$3,662

Cheaper than 95% · #9 cheapest of 123 in Illinois

Median debt at graduation$4,909

Lower than 98%

Student–faculty ratio15 : 1

Lower than 56%

Undergraduate enrollment1,051

Larger than 73%

Percentiles compare Carl Sandburg College with the nation's 3,519 two-year and certificate schools, among schools reporting each statistic. State ranks count two-year and certificate schools in Illinois.

Student body

Undergraduates by gender

Women65262%
Men39938%

Undergraduates by race / ethnicity

White66%
Black12%
Hispanic16%
Asian0.9%
Other or multiracial6.0%

Graduate gender splits aren't published in this data, so the gender chart covers undergraduates only.

By the numbers

Undergraduate enrollment: 1,051
Student–faculty ratio: 15 : 1
Pell Grant recipients: 42%
First-generation students: 43%
Students over 25: 22%
Median family income: $21,982
Avg faculty salary (academic year): $61,776
Endowment: $17,450,172

Colleges don't publish true class-size data; student–faculty ratio (IPEDS) is the closest public measure of it.

Where students come from

Home state of the 310 first-year students who entered in fall 2023.

From Illinois91%
Other U.S. states4.2%
International5.2%

Most first-years stay in state — Carl Sandburg College draws overwhelmingly from Illinois.

5% came from outside the U.S. Out-of-state students usually pay a higher tuition rate at public schools — check the cost card above for your bracket. Source: IPEDS residence & migration, fall 2023 entering class.

Cost

In-state tuition: $5,390
Out-of-state tuition: $8,900
Room & board: —
Books & supplies: $1,500
Total cost of attendance: $11,563
Average net price: $3,662

Outcomes

Graduated: 50%
First-year retention: 63%
Transferred to another college: 15%
Median earnings, 6 years after entry: $31,149
Median earnings, 10 years after entry: $35,274
Median debt at graduation: $4,909
Students with federal loans: 14%
Paying down their loans (1 year in): 54%

Graduating on time

By student background (4 years)

All students

50%

First-generation

35%

When these bars run close together, students from every background tend to finish at similar rates — a sign the school supports the ~30% who are first-gen or low-income.

Campus life & athletics

On-campus housing: No
Application fee: Free
Athletics: NJCAA Division II
Varsity athletes: 129 (81 men · 48 women)

Varsity sports (7)

Baseball31

Basketball24

Soccer23

Golf13

Softball13

Cross Country13

Volleyball12

Athlete counts per sport, Equity in Athletics data, 2024–25.

Campus safety

Safety grade: A
Reported offenses per 1,000 students: 0.0 / year
Violent offenses (2022–2024): 0
Property offenses (2022–2024): 0

What you'll actually pay, by family income

Average net price (total cost minus grants and scholarships) paid by aided students in each family-income band.

< $30k

$1,014

$30–48k

$3,025

$48–75k

$5,074

$75–110k

$5,162

$110k+

$6,012

College Scorecard / IPEDS, most recent year. Family income is total household income; net price covers tuition, fees, room, board and supplies after grant aid, for students receiving federal aid.

Does the school pay you to attend?

Grant aid from the school's own funds — the discount off sticker, on top of any federal or state help.

49%

of first-years get a grant from the school

$3,941

average award, among those who get one

Modest institutional aid: 49% of freshmen get a grant from the school, averaging $3,941. Most of what lowers the price here is federal or state money, not the school's own funds.

Blends need-based and merit aid — IPEDS doesn't split the two, so a high number can mean generous merit scholarships, deep need-based aid, or both. Figures cover 214 full-time first-year undergraduates, 2022–23. Source: IPEDS Student Financial Aid.

Is it worth it?

A rough return-on-investment read from what graduates earn versus what they borrow.

Median earnings (10 years): $35,274
Typical debt at graduation: $4,909
Debt vs. one year's pay: 14%
Out-earn a HS grad: 40%

Typical debt would take roughly 1.4 years to repay at about a tenth of median earnings.

Solid value

A reasonable return: earnings comfortably clear the debt over a few years for most students who finish.

Earnings are the College Scorecard median for former students (working, not enrolled) 10 years after entry — not a guarantee, and they vary a lot by major. Debt is the median federal loan balance at graduation.

The pay gap here

Median earnings 10 years after entry, split by gender.

Women

$32,672

Men

$41,286

Men out-earn women by $8,614 (26%) a decade out.

Federal figures for former students working and not enrolled, 10 years after they first entered. A gap this wide usually reflects which majors men and women here tend to choose — not different pay for the same job.

Campus climate

Summer high: 84°F
Winter low: 14°F
Annual rain: 39″
Annual snow: 25.9″

Average temperature

HighLow

Average precipitation (inches)

NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals, Galesburg, IL US station (2.7 mi from campus).

What Carl Sandburg College graduates study — and earn

Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and HumanitiesAssoc.

172 grads$28k 1 yr$36k 5 yr$6k debt

172$27,529$35,978$6,000 Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and HumanitiesCert.

100 grads— 1 yr— 5 yr— debt

100———Biological and Physical SciencesAssoc.

36 grads— 1 yr$43k 5 yr— debt

36—$43,260—Dental Support Services and Allied ProfessionsAssoc.

27 grads$52k 1 yr$54k 5 yr$10k debt

27$51,566$54,300$10,374 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical NursingAssoc.

27 grads$67k 1 yr$63k 5 yr$9k debt

27$66,508$62,857$9,437 Precision Metal WorkingCert.

23 grads— 1 yr— 5 yr— debt

23———Computer and Information Sciences, GeneralCert.

21 grads— 1 yr— 5 yr— debt

21———Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment ProfessionsAssoc.

10 grads— 1 yr— 5 yr— debt

10———Practical Nursing, Vocational Nursing and Nursing AssistantsCert.

9 grads— 1 yr$50k 5 yr— debt

9—$49,524—Vehicle Maintenance and Repair Technologies/TechniciansCert.

7 grads— 1 yr— 5 yr— debt

7———Computer/Information Technology Administration and ManagementCert.

6 grads— 1 yr— 5 yr— debt

6———Computer/Information Technology Administration and ManagementAssoc.

6 grads— 1 yr— 5 yr— debt

6———

Median earnings of this school's own graduates 1 and 5 years after finishing each program, and median federal-loan debt at completion (College Scorecard). Small programs are privacy-suppressed (—). Click a major to compare colleges nationally.

Colleges similar to Carl Sandburg College

Schools with a comparable profile — size, selectivity, cost, and graduate outcomes. Compare Carl Sandburg College side by side →

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Transfer: 22%
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Danville Area Community College

Public

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Students: 1,508
Tuition: $4k
Transfer: 19%
Earnings: $35k

South Suburban College

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Students: 2,042
Tuition: $5k
Transfer: 26%
Earnings: $34k

Highland Community College

Public

Freeport, Illinois · Fringe rural · 30 mi to Rockford

Students: 931
Tuition: $5k
Transfer: 19%
Earnings: $38k

Colleges near Carl Sandburg College

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Galesburg, IL · Private nonprofit · Bachelor's · 1,127 students

3 mi

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Black Hawk College

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Trinity College of Nursing & Health Sciences

Rock Island, IL · Private nonprofit · Bachelor's · 56 students

36 mi

Spoon River College

Canton, IL · Public · Certificate · 774 students

36 mi

Augustana College

Rock Island, IL · Private nonprofit · Bachelor's · 2,490 students

37 mi

Western Illinois University

Macomb, IL · Public · Bachelor's · 4,410 students

38 mi

Source: US Department of Education College Scorecard (most recent cohorts), IPEDS institutional characteristics, Equity in Athletics (EADA) data, Clery Act Campus Safety and Security data, and NOAA US Climate Normals. Distances are straight-line from campus coordinates. Percentiles compare schools of the same level (four-year vs. two-year) that report each statistic.