About
Pearl River Community College is a public community college in Poplarville, Mississippi. It was founded as Pearl River County Agricultural High School in 1909 and became the first junior college in Mississippi in 1921.
Graduation rate & outcomes
Completion, retention, and the equity gap between Pell and non-Pell students.
Pell equity
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.
Of 42 Title IV programs, 7 pass the federal Gainful Employment test and 2 fail. 33 have graduate earnings too small to publish, so they carry no pass/fail verdict.
Pass / fail distribution
- Passing7 · 16.7%
- No Data33 · 78.6%
- Failing2 · 4.8%
Severity spectrum
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.
Debt vs earnings
Median completer debt against median graduate earnings, highest burden first.
Accreditation status & history
Who accredits the institution, current standing, and any past actions.
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
Programmatic accreditations · 1
Action history · 17
- Mar 2024Grant Substantive Change: ProgramSouthern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
- Mar 2024Grant Substantive Change: ProgramSouthern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
- Jun 2023Grant Substantive Change: OtherSouthern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
- Apr 2023Grant Substantive Change: ProgramSouthern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
- Mar 2023Grant Substantive Change: ProgramSouthern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
Tuition & cost
What families actually pay, broken down by family income.
Net price by family income
Negative values mean aid exceeds the published cost of attendance for that income band.
Federal aid volume & trends
Pell grants and federal Direct Loan volume disbursed to students, and how they've trended.
In AY 2024–25, 3,718 students received $21.3M in Pell grants, alongside $12.1M in federal Direct Loans.
Pell recipients · 5-year trend
Loan volume by type · AY 2024–25
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.
Student loan default rate
The share of student borrowers who default on federal loans within three years, against the national benchmark.
Of 826 borrowers who entered repayment, 42 (5.0%) defaulted within three years — above the 2.3% national rate.
Default rate vs national, by cohort
* 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.
Academic programs at Pearl River Community College
Top program areas ranked by completions.
Top program families by completions
Enrollment trends & demographics
Fall headcount, 12-month unduplicated enrollment, and student body composition.
Gender split
Race / ethnicity composition
Athletics & Title IX gender equity
How athletic participation, aid, and spending are split between men and women.
Men vs women · spending splits
Sport-by-sport · 8
Campus safety & crime statistics
Reported on-campus crimes over the last three years, including violence and hate crimes.
3-year trend
Criminal offenses by type
By location
- On campus1
VAWA offenses
Hate crimes by bias
No hate crimes reported.
Arrests vs disciplinary referrals
Residence-hall fires
Student-faculty ratio
Student-to-faculty ratio and instructional staff counts.
Pearl River Community College vs Peer comparison
The peer institutions Pearl River Community College selected for federal comparison reporting.
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 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SubjectPearl River Community College | 37% | — | 6,011 | $4,881 | Community College |
Amarillo College | — | — | 9,262 | $6,040 | Community College |
Baton Rouge Community College | — | — | 11,182 | $10,171 | Community College |
Bluegrass Community and Technical College | — | — | 12,965 | $5,920 | Community College |
Brookdale Community College | — | — | 9,900 | $8,882 | Community College |
City College of San Francisco | — | — | 19,267 | $7,272 | Community College |
Coastal Alabama Community College | — | — | 7,553 | $9,514 | Community College |
Community College of Baltimore County | — | — | 16,451 | $6,643 | Community College |
Delaware County Community College | — | — | 7,402 | $7,395 | Community College |
Delgado Community College | — | — | 12,712 | $11,926 | Community College |
Forsyth Technical Community College | — | — | 9,099 | $6,342 | Community College |
Grand Rapids Community College | — | — | 12,468 | $11,153 | Community College |
Guilford Technical Community College | — | — | 11,485 | $13,926 | Community College |
Horry-Georgetown Technical College | — | — | 7,923 | $3,719 | Community College |
Hudson County Community College | — | — | 7,763 | $5,902 | Community College |
Lansing Community College | — | — | 9,821 | $4,003 | Community College |
Macomb Community College | — | — | 16,300 | $5,725 | Community College |
Midlands Technical College | — | — | 9,226 | $5,462 | Community College |
Mt San Antonio College | — | — | 29,971 | $3,107 | Community College |
Mt San Jacinto Community College District | — | — | 17,627 | $7,098 | Community College |
Northampton County Area Community College | — | — | 8,810 | $10,666 | Community College |
Northwest Mississippi Community College | — | — | 7,867 | $7,665 | Community College |
Palomar College | — | — | 19,550 | $5,247 | Community College |
Sacramento City College | — | — | 19,920 | $3,974 | Community College |
San Bernardino Valley College | — | — | 14,055 | $8,234 | Community College |
San Joaquin Delta College | — | — | 20,969 | $8,508 | Community College |
Sierra College | — | — | 19,125 | $4,462 | Community College |
Tulsa Community College | — | — | 15,655 | $5,999 | Community College |
| Peer group median | 37% | — | 11,977 | $6,493 |
Pearl River Community College Institutional Research office
The IR team responsible for the institution's federal reporting.
The Office of Institutional Research assists with data collection in order to provide data and statistical analyses to support informed decisions at the College.
Visit IR office page- Dr. Jennifer SealExecutive Vice President for Planning and Accreditation
- Dr. Melanie DavisDirector of Institutional Research and Effectiveness /Director of Professional and Community Development
Research funding
External research funding from NSF, NIH, HERD, and federal spending sources.
Reports & documents (3)
Dashboards, factbooks, data dictionaries, and other reference material published by the IR office.
- DFR reportIPEDS Data Feedback Report 20242024nces.ed.gov
- FactbookFactbook | Pearl River Community College2025The Factbook for Pearl River Community College provides detailed enrollment data including age, gender, race, and high school attended, across multiple fiscal years up to FY 2025. It includes information on degrees earned from 2016 to 2025. The Office of Planning and Institutional Research publishes this data to inform stakeholders on student demographics and institutional performance.prcc.edu
- Strategic planStrategic Plan and Internal Performance Indicators2022Pearl River Community College's strategic plan outlines its institutional goals for the period 2022 to 2025, focusing on enhancing institutional effectiveness. The document, managed by the Office of Planning and Institutional Research, serves as a roadmap for the college's developmental activities and performance assessments. It aims to align the college's initiatives with its mission while maintaining accountability and transparency.prcc.edu
Notable alumni of Pearl River Community College (15)
A curated list of alumni recognized for notable achievements across industries.
- Brad Touchstone
- Lloyd Donald Brinkman
- Jimmy BuffettMusic
- William Leon Clark
- J. P. ComprettaPolitics
- Ralph Dunagin
- C. P. Dunphey
- Chris JohnsonPolitics
- Leland Mitchell
- Bill Pigott
- Brandon RachalAthletics
- James SingletonAthletics
Frequently asked questions about Pearl River Community College
Quick answers to the questions most often asked about Pearl River Community College.
What is the graduation rate at Pearl River Community College?
How many students attend Pearl River Community College?
What is the average net price at Pearl River Community College?
Where is Pearl River Community College located?
Who runs Institutional Research at Pearl River Community College?
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