Public · Community college

Kankakee Community College

Kankakee, Illinois · Small city

21%
Transfer rate: $4,665
Avg net price: 32%
Grad / completion: $38,767
Median earnings

Kankakee Community College is a public certificate-granting institution in Kankakee, Illinois (small city setting), enrolling 1,985 undergraduates. Admission is open to all applicants.

PublicSmall · 1,985 undergradsSmall cityNJCAA Division IICold winters

About Kankakee, Illinois

Kankakee is a city in and the county seat of Kankakee County, Illinois, United States. Kankakee was founded in 1854. Frank Lloyd Wright designed two houses in the Riverview section of the city, located on South Harrison Avenue. The B. Harley Bradley House and the Warren Hickox House both still stand today. (Wikipedia)

Setting: Small city
Highest degree offered: Associate
Nearest big city: 55 miles to Chicago, IL
To Great Lakes shore: 44 miles
Nearest airport: 42 miles to Gary/Chicago (GYY)

How Kankakee Community College compares

Graduation rate32%

Higher than 16% · #105 of 122 in Illinois

First-year retention57%

Higher than 18%

Earnings, 10 years after entry$38,767

Higher than 64% · #35 of 113 in Illinois

Average net price$4,665

Cheaper than 92% · #15 cheapest of 123 in Illinois

Median debt at graduation$9,969

Lower than 47%

Student–faculty ratio15 : 1

Lower than 56%

Undergraduate enrollment1,985

Larger than 82%

Percentiles compare Kankakee Community 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

Women1,22462%
Men76138%

Undergraduates by race / ethnicity

White54%
Black13%
Hispanic25%
Asian0.7%
Other or multiracial8.3%

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

By the numbers

Undergraduate enrollment: 1,985
Student–faculty ratio: 15 : 1
Pell Grant recipients: 36%
First-generation students: 52%
Students over 25: 31%
Median family income: $20,503
Avg faculty salary (academic year): $72,684
Endowment: $9,700,282

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 466 first-year students who entered in fall 2023.

From Illinois96%
Other U.S. states3.0%
International1.5%

Most first-years stay in state — Kankakee Community College draws overwhelmingly from Illinois.

2% 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: $5,220
Out-of-state tuition: $25,830
Room & board: —
Books & supplies: $1,494
Total cost of attendance: $11,612
Average net price: $4,665

Outcomes

Graduated: 32%
First-year retention: 57%
Transferred to another college: 21%
Median earnings, 6 years after entry: $33,835
Median earnings, 10 years after entry: $38,767
Median debt at graduation: $9,969
Students with federal loans: 4%
Paying down their loans (1 year in): 29%

Graduating on time

By student background (4 years)

All students

32%

Low-income (Pell)

10%

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: 131 (70 men · 61 women)

Varsity sports (5)

Soccer37

Baseball34

Basketball29

Softball19

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

$4,061

$30–48k

$2,781

$48–75k

$5,449

$75–110k

$7,610

$110k+

$10,603

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.

13%

of first-years get a grant from the school

$1,570

average award, among those who get one

Modest institutional aid: 13% of freshmen get a grant from the school, averaging $1,570. 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 307 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): $38,767
Typical debt at graduation: $9,969
Debt vs. one year's pay: 26%
Out-earn a HS grad: 44%

Typical debt would take roughly 2.6 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

$35,713

Men

$45,001

Men out-earn women by $9,288 (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: 85°F
Winter low: 16°F
Annual rain: 41.7″
Annual snow: 20.7″

Average temperature

HighLow

Average precipitation (inches)

NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals, Kankakee Metro Wastewater, IL US station (3.1 mi from campus).

What Kankakee Community College graduates study — and earn

Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and HumanitiesAssoc.

152 grads— 1 yr$46k 5 yr$6k debt

152—$45,689$5,900 Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and HumanitiesCert.

48 grads— 1 yr— 5 yr— debt

48———Electrical/Electronics Maintenance and Repair Technologies/TechniciansCert.

48 grads— 1 yr— 5 yr— debt

48———Criminal Justice and CorrectionsCert.

46 grads— 1 yr— 5 yr— debt

46———Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical NursingAssoc.

44 grads$66k 1 yr$77k 5 yr$24k debt

44$66,261$76,724$23,550 Biological and Physical SciencesAssoc.

36 grads— 1 yr— 5 yr— debt

36———Precision Metal WorkingCert.

35 grads— 1 yr— 5 yr— debt

35———Industrial Production Technologies/TechniciansCert.

29 grads— 1 yr— 5 yr— debt

29———Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment ProfessionsCert.

25 grads— 1 yr— 5 yr— debt

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

24 grads$55k 1 yr$61k 5 yr$10k debt

24$54,757$61,341$10,418 Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science/Research and Allied ProfessionsCert.

24 grads— 1 yr— 5 yr— debt

24———Human Development, Family Studies, and Related ServicesCert.

18 grads— 1 yr— 5 yr— debt

18———

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 Kankakee Community College

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

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Colleges near Kankakee Community College

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Larry's Barber College-Joliet

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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.