Community CollegePublicHSI

Lone Star College System

The Woodlands, Texas·Public, 4-year or above·Southwest·lonestar.edu
6-yr Graduation
21%
—
Total enrollment
73,077
peer median 14,628
Avg net price
$9,322
+$4.4k vs Community College
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AboutOutcomesProgram outcomesAccreditationCostFederal aidLoan defaultsAcademic programsEnrollment trendsCampus safetyFacultyPeersIR Office

About

Lone Star College System (LSCS) is a public community college system serving the northern portions of the Greater Houston, Texas, area. As of fall 2025, it enrolls over 95,000 students. The headquarters of the Lone Star College System are located in The Woodlands and in unincorporated Montgomery County, Texas.

Graduation rate & outcomes

Completion, retention, and the equity gap between Pell and non-Pell students.

IPEDS
Overall completion
21%

Pell equity

19.0pp gap
Pell recipients
21%
Non-Pell
2%

Pell recipients graduate at a higher rate than non-Pell students here — unusual and worth investigating.

Program outcomes

Federal Program Performance Data: how each program's graduate earnings and debt measure up under Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment.

FVT/GE

Of 107 Title IV programs, 14 pass the federal Gainful Employment test and 0 fail. 93 have graduate earnings too small to publish, so they carry no pass/fail verdict.

Total programs
107
Passing
14
13.1% of portfolio
Failing (GE)
0
0.0% of portfolio
Fail rate
0.0%
-0.6pp vs 0.6% national

Pass / fail distribution

107programs
  • Passing14 · 13.1%
  • No Data93 · 86.9%
  • Failing0 · 0.0%

Severity spectrum

Critical
0
Severe
0
Recoverable
0
At Risk
1
Watch
1
Safe
12
No data
93

Tiers band programs by how far graduate earnings sit above or below the benchmark, from Critical (below −15%) through Safe (above +25%). No data means earnings were privacy-suppressed.

Earnings premium gap

Graduate earnings versus the federal benchmark, worst gaps first.

14
Educational/Instructional Media Design
Associate Degree · Education
+5.1%
$34,994 vs $33,298
Accounting and Related Services
Associate Degree · Business, Management, Marketing, And Related Support Services
+13.0%
$37,632 vs $33,298
Criminal Justice and Corrections
Associate Degree · Security And Protective Services
+32.3%
$44,057 vs $33,298
Business Administration Management and Operations
Associate Degree · Business, Management, Marketing, And Related Support Services
+40.5%
$46,772 vs $33,298
Liberal Arts and Sciences General Studies and Humanities
Associate Degree · Liberal Arts And Sciences, General Studies And Humanities
+43.7%
$47,859 vs $33,298
Veterinary/Animal Health Technologies/Technicians
Associate Degree · Agriculture, Agriculture Operations, And Related Sciences
+45.4%
$48,427 vs $33,298
Business/Commerce General
Associate Degree · Business, Management, Marketing, And Related Support Services
+51.8%
$50,531 vs $33,298
Computer and Information Sciences General
Associate Degree · Computer And Information Sciences And Support Services
+53.0%
$50,935 vs $33,298

Debt vs earnings

Median completer debt against median graduate earnings, highest burden first.

15
Criminal Justice and Corrections
Associate Degree · Security And Protective Services
22%
$9,500 debt · $44,057 earn
Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services
Undergraduate Certificate · Health Professions And Related Clinical Sciences
17%
$6,979 debt · $40,990 earn
Cosmetology and Related Personal Grooming Services
Undergraduate Certificate · Personal And Culinary Services
17%
$3,500 debt · $20,853 earn
Liberal Arts and Sciences General Studies and Humanities
Associate Degree · Liberal Arts And Sciences, General Studies And Humanities
17%
$8,000 debt · $47,859 earn
Business/Commerce General
Associate Degree · Business, Management, Marketing, And Related Support Services
16%
$8,000 debt · $50,531 earn
Teacher Education and Professional Development Specific Levels and Methods
Associate Degree · Education
16%
$8,424 debt · $53,830 earn
Business Administration Management and Operations
Undergraduate Certificate · Business, Management, Marketing, And Related Support Services
16%
$6,464 debt · $41,600 earn
Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services
Associate Degree · Health Professions And Related Clinical Sciences
15%
$8,000 debt · $54,262 earn

Accreditation status & history

Who accredits the institution, current standing, and any past actions.

DAPIP
AccreditedInstitutional accreditor

Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges

Accredited since 1976Next review Dec 2027

Action history · 26

  1. Aug 2025Grant Substantive Change: Other
    Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
  2. Aug 2025Grant Substantive Change: Other
    Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
  3. Nov 2024Grant Substantive Change: Program
    Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
  4. Nov 2024Grant Substantive Change: Program
    Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
  5. Aug 2024Grant Substantive Change: Other
    Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

Tuition & cost

What families actually pay, broken down by family income.

College Scorecard

Net price by family income

Aid exceeds costFamily pays
$0–30k$8,245
$30–48k$8,862
$48–75k$10,373
$75–110k$12,310
$110k+$14,153

Negative values mean aid exceeds the published cost of attendance for that income band.

Avg net price
$9,322
+$4,386vs Community College median $4,936
Federal loans
7.9%
In-state tuition
$3,090
Out-of-state
$8,700

Federal aid volume & trends

Pell grants and federal Direct Loan volume disbursed to students, and how they've trended.

Federal Student Aid

In AY 2024–25, 23,286 students received $102.4M in Pell grants, alongside $39.3M in federal Direct Loans.

Pell recipients
23,286
AY 2024–25
Pell disbursed
$102.4M
$102,408,357 total
Direct Loans
$39.3M
11,369 loan awards

Pell recipients · 5-year trend

19k
’20
19k
’21
19k
’22
21k
’23
23k
’24

Loan volume by type · AY 2024–25

Subsidized$16.6M
5,773 loan awards
Unsubsidized · UG$21.2M
5,516 loan awards
Parent PLUS$1.5M
80 loan awards

Loan awards count each loan type a student holds, not unique borrowers; one student may carry several (e.g. subsidized and unsubsidized), so the per-type figures are the reliable detail.

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

Student loan default rate

The share of student borrowers who default on federal loans within three years, against the national benchmark.

Cohort Default Rate

Of 6,594 borrowers who entered repayment, 59 (0.8%) defaulted within three years — below the 2.3% national rate.

Default rate
0.8%
-1.5pp vs 2.3% national
Borrowers in repayment
6,594
Defaulted
59
Measurement window
3 years
Federal CDR standard

Default rate vs national, by cohort

2016
12.6%
2017
15.4%
2018
12.3%
2019
0.8%
2020*
0.0%
This institutionNational rate

* Cohorts 2020 and later read near 0% because the federal COVID-19 payment pause (CARES Act) suspended defaults nationwide. These years reflect a national policy, not institutional performance; the 2019 cohort is the last measured under normal repayment.

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

Academic programs at Lone Star College System

Top program areas ranked by completions.

IPEDS
Distinct CIP programs69
UndergraduateOffered
GraduateOffered

Top program families by completions

9,616 total completions
01Liberal Arts
6,48567.4%
02Business
1,14011.9%
03Health Professions
7217.5%
04Computer Sciences
3834.0%
05Education
3223.3%
06Security/Protective
2392.5%
07Engineering Tech
1041.1%
08Mechanic
941.0%
09Precision Production
660.7%
10Engineering
620.6%

Enrollment trends & demographics

Fall headcount, 12-month unduplicated enrollment, and student body composition.

IPEDS
Fall total
73,077
12-mo unduplicated
107,793
Undergraduate
107,793
Graduate
0

Gender split

Men
41%44,026
Women
59%63,767

Race / ethnicity composition

Hispanic
45.3%
White
23.7%
Black
14.3%
Asian
6.6%
Non-resident
4.3%
Two or more
3.6%
Unknown
2.0%
American Indian / Alaska Native
0.2%

Campus safety & crime statistics

Reported on-campus crimes over the last three years, including violence and hate crimes.

Clery Act
Criminal offenses · per 1,000 students
0.06
4 offenses · 68,415 students

3-year trend

0.042 yrs ago0.131 yr ago0.06Latest
Offenses · 3-yr
16
Last three years
VAWA · 3-yr
11
DV, dating, stalking
Hate crimes · 3-yr
0
Res-hall fires · 3-yr
0

Criminal offenses by type

Motor vehicle theft
3
Burglary
1

By location

4total
  • On campus4

VAWA offenses

0
Domestic violence
2
Dating violence
2
Stalking
4 total under the Violence Against Women Act.

Hate crimes by bias

No hate crimes reported.

Arrests vs disciplinary referrals

CategoryArrestsReferrals
Weapons10
Drugs00
Liquor10

Residence-hall fires

No residence-hall fires reported.

Data quality: 2 reports were later determined unfounded across the reporting period and are excluded from the totals above.

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

Student-faculty ratio

Student-to-faculty ratio and instructional staff counts.

IPEDS
Student-to-faculty
22.0:1
Instructional staff (full-time equivalent)
903

Lone Star College System vs Peer comparison

The peer institutions Lone Star College System selected for federal comparison reporting.

IPEDS
GraduationRetentionSelectivityEnrollmentAffordabilityYield
This institutionPeer median

A larger shape on any axis means this institution outperforms its peers on that dimension. For acceptance rate and net price, lower raw values are inverted so "more selective" and "more affordable" appear larger.

Carnegie
SubjectLone Star College System
21%—73,077$9,322Community College
San Antonio College
——19,901$5,290Community College
Northwest Vista College
——20,060$4,546Community College
Northeast Lakeview College
——9,355$4,582Community College
University of North Texas Health Science Center
——2,332——
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center-El Paso
——997——
Peer group median21%—14,628$4,936

Lone Star College System Institutional Research office

The IR team responsible for the institution's federal reporting.

Office
Institutional Effectiveness (IE)
Reports to Office of Institutional Assessment
Phone
281-655-3793
Address
5000 Research Forest Drive, The Woodlands, Texas 77381

At Lone Star College, assessment consists of both operational effectiveness and learning effectiveness. To assess the operational effectiveness, all LSC units are engaged in an annual cycle of planning and assessment that involves developing plans for improvement, implementing said plans, collecting data to gauge the extent to which the expected outcomes are achieved, and then using the assessment results for continuous improvement.

Visit IR office page
Team
1 member
  • Dr. Sherell Laster
    Director, Institutional Assessment

Frequently asked questions about Lone Star College System

Quick answers to the questions most often asked about Lone Star College System.

What is the graduation rate at Lone Star College System?

Lone Star College System reports a 6-year graduation rate of 21% per the latest IPEDS.

How many students attend Lone Star College System?

Lone Star College System reports a total enrollment of 73,077 students per the latest IPEDS.

What is the average net price at Lone Star College System?

The average net price at Lone Star College System is $9,322 per the latest College Scorecard. Net price is the published cost of attendance minus grant aid.

Where is Lone Star College System located?

Lone Star College System is located in The Woodlands, Texas 77381-4399.

Who runs Institutional Research at Lone Star College System?

Lone Star College System's IR work is done by the Institutional Effectiveness (IE), which reports to Office of Institutional Assessment.

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