About
Wharton County Junior College is a public, two-year community college located in Wharton, Texas, with four campuses in Wharton, Sugar Land, Richmond, and Bay City, as well as additional classes in El Campo. The college offers over 50 post-secondary educational programs, including associate degrees and workforce training, and has been educating the community for more than 75 years.
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 60 Title IV programs, 7 pass the federal Gainful Employment test and 0 fail. 53 have graduate earnings too small to publish, so they carry no pass/fail verdict.
Pass / fail distribution
- Passing7 · 11.7%
- No Data53 · 88.3%
- Failing0 · 0.0%
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 · 3
Action history · 10
- Jun 2025Heightened Monitoring or Focused ReviewSouthern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
- Nov 2024Heightened Monitoring or Focused ReviewSouthern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
- Jan 2023Renewal of AccreditationJoint Review Committee on Education in Radiologic Technology · Radiologic Technology (RAD) - Programs for radiographers
- Dec 2022Grant Substantive Change: OtherSouthern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
- Apr 2021Grant Substantive Change: ProgramAmerican Dental Association, Commission on Dental Accreditation · Dental Hygiene (DH)
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, 2,061 students received $10.2M in Pell grants, alongside $2.3M 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 649 borrowers who entered repayment, 26 (4.0%) 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 Wharton County Junior 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 · 3
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
- Mullins Hall1 fireCookingDamage $0-$99
Student-faculty ratio
Student-to-faculty ratio and instructional staff counts.
Wharton County Junior College vs Peer comparison
The peer institutions Wharton County Junior 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 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SubjectWharton County Junior College | 27% | — | 5,504 | $5,021 | Community College |
Alvin Community College | — | — | 5,872 | $4,233 | Community College |
Angelina College | — | — | 3,890 | $8,900 | Community College |
Brazosport College | — | — | 3,812 | $3,022 | Baccalaureate |
Cisco College | — | — | 3,160 | $9,099 | Community College |
Coastal Bend College | — | — | 4,259 | $3,886 | Community College |
College of the Mainland | — | — | 5,127 | $1,975 | Community College |
Grayson College | — | — | 4,324 | $4,984 | Community College |
Hill College | — | — | 4,158 | $6,615 | Community College |
Kilgore College | — | — | 7,198 | $6,629 | Community College |
Lee College | — | — | 8,323 | $7,519 | Community College |
McLennan Community College | — | — | 7,850 | $6,185 | Community College |
Midland College | — | — | 5,690 | $5,720 | Baccalaureate |
Odessa College | — | — | 9,981 | $9,296 | Community College |
Paris Junior College | — | — | 4,533 | $6,662 | Community College |
Temple College | — | — | 5,274 | $6,934 | Community College |
Texarkana College | — | — | 4,290 | $7,236 | Community College |
Texas Southmost College | — | — | 8,828 | $5,458 | Community College |
Trinity Valley Community College | — | — | 5,961 | $3,801 | Community College |
Victoria College | — | — | 3,276 | $4,550 | Community College |
Weatherford College | — | — | 6,520 | $8,664 | Community College |
| Peer group median | 27% | — | 5,274 | $6,185 |
Wharton County Junior College Institutional Research office
The IR team responsible for the institution's federal reporting.
Our Offices of Institutional Effectiveness and Institutional Research ensure that WCJC achieves its goals through intentional, transparent, and data-driven strategies.
Visit IR office pageReports & documents (1)
Dashboards, factbooks, data dictionaries, and other reference material published by the IR office.
Notable alumni of Wharton County Junior College (1)
A curated list of alumni recognized for notable achievements across industries.
- Tom McNeill
Frequently asked questions about Wharton County Junior College
Quick answers to the questions most often asked about Wharton County Junior College.
What is the graduation rate at Wharton County Junior College?
How many students attend Wharton County Junior College?
What is the average net price at Wharton County Junior College?
Where is Wharton County Junior College located?
Who runs Institutional Research at Wharton County Junior College?
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