Private nonprofit · Community college

Generations College

Chicago, Illinois · Large city

13%
Transfer rate
$18,894
Avg net price
11%
Grad / completion
$34,706
Median earnings

Generations College is a private nonprofit associate-granting institution in Chicago, Illinois (large city setting), enrolling 310 undergraduates. Programs are offered entirely online. Admission is open to all applicants.

Private nonprofitSmall · 310 undergradsLarge cityCold wintersSnowy

About Chicago, Illinois

Chicago is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. The first known permanent settler in Chicago was a trader, Jean Baptiste Point du Sable. Du Sable was of African descent, perhaps born in the French colony of Saint-Domingue (Haiti), and he established the settlement in the 1780s. He is commonly known as the "Founder of Chicago". Chicago has the third-largest gross metropolitan product in the United States—about $670.5 billion according to September 2017 estimates. The city has also been rated as having the most balanced economy in the United States, due to its high level of diversification. (Wikipedia)

Setting
Large city
Highest degree offered
Associate
Nearest big city
Chicago, IL
To Great Lakes shore
1 mile

How Generations College compares

Graduation rate11%

Higher than 1% · #120 of 122 in Illinois

First-year retention26%

Higher than 3%

Earnings, 10 years after entry$34,706

Higher than 48% · #60 of 113 in Illinois

Average net price$18,894

Cheaper than 36% · #83 cheapest of 123 in Illinois

Median debt at graduation$25,250

Lower than 2%

Student–faculty ratio26 : 1

Lower than 9%

Undergraduate enrollment310

Larger than 54%

Percentiles compare Generations 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

310undergrads
  • Women24178%
  • Men6922%

Undergraduates by race / ethnicity

  • White24%
  • Black60%
  • Hispanic14%
  • Other or multiracial2.3%

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

By the numbers

Undergraduate enrollment
310
Student–faculty ratio
26 : 1
Pell Grant recipients
70%
First-generation students
56%
Students over 25
85%
Median family income
$17,748
Avg faculty salary (academic year)
$44,064

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

Cost

In-state tuition
$12,700
Room & board
Books & supplies
$1,050
Total cost of attendance
$25,660
Average net price
$18,894

Net price is the total cost minus grants and scholarships — what students actually pay. It varies sharply by family income; see the breakdown below.

Outcomes

Graduated
11%
First-year retention
26%
Transferred to another college
13%
Median earnings, 6 years after entry
$31,406
Median earnings, 10 years after entry
$34,706
Median debt at graduation
$25,250
Students with federal loans
23%
Paying down their loans (1 year in)
17%

Campus life & athletics

On-campus housing
No
Application fee
$20

Housing and fees: IPEDS 2023–24. Athletics rosters: Equity in Athletics data, 2024–25. Dorm capacity can include graduate and family housing, so the share of undergrads can top 100%.

Campus safety

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

On-campus criminal offenses reported under the Clery Act, 2022–2024, across 1 campus (310 students). Counts reflect reports, not convictions — schools with strong reporting cultures often show more, so a higher count doesn't simply mean a more dangerous campus.

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
$18,723
$30–48k
$19,710
$48–75k
$75–110k
$110k+

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.

5%
of first-years get a grant from the school
$2,000
average award, among those who get one

Modest institutional aid: 5% of freshmen get a grant from the school, averaging $2,000. 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 40 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)
$34,706
Typical debt at graduation
$25,250
Debt vs. one year's pay
73%
Out-earn a HS grad
37%

Typical debt would take roughly 7.3 years to repay at about a tenth of median earnings.

Weigh it value

The payoff is less clear-cut here — weigh the debt against the earnings and your intended field before borrowing heavily.

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.

Campus climate

Summer high
81°F
Winter low
20°F
Annual rain
34.4″
Annual snow
38.8″

Average temperature

HighLow
10°50°90°JFMAMJJASOND

Average precipitation (inches)

0.02.04.1JFMAMJJASOND

NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals, Chicago Northerly IS, IL US station (2 mi from campus).

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 Generations College

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

Colleges near Generations College

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.