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Howard Community College: Rankings, Admissions, Cost & Majors

15 awards Ranking Badges
Fair Price Value for Your Money
7% Student Loan Default Rate

Howard Community College is a public institution in Columbia, Maryland enrolling 6,649 undergraduates. It has an on-time graduation rate of 24%, below the national average of 33%. College Factual ranks it #1,522 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in its 2027 Best Colleges ranking (top 29%), and its Value for Your Money analysis rates it a Fair Price.

Source: IPEDS 2025; College Scorecard July 2026; College Factual rankings 2027. Data as of: July 2026.

How Is Howard Community College Ranked?

Howard Community College ranks #1,522 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges ranking, placing it in the top 29%.

#1,522 Best Colleges in Nation
#28 Best Colleges in MD
Howard Community College ranking badge

2027 Rankings

College Factual analyzes over 2,000 colleges and universities in its annual rankings and ranks them in a variety of ways, including most diverse, best overall quality, best for non-traditional students, and much more.

Howard Community College was awarded 15 badges in the 2027 rankings.

Overall Quality

College Factual ranked Howard Community College as #1,522 out of 5,159 colleges and universities in the country on its 2027 Best Colleges list.

Within the state, Howard Community College holds the #28 spot on the Best Colleges in Maryland ranking.

See all of the rankings for Howard Community College.

Is It Hard to Get Into Howard Community College?

Acceptance Rate

Learn more about Howard Community College admissions.

What Is the Student-to-Faculty Ratio at Howard Community College?

14 to 1 Student to Faculty
27% Full Time Teachers

Student to Faculty Ratio

With a student to faculty ratio of 14 to 1, Howard Community College is about average in this regard as the nationwide rate is 15 to 1. While this does not translate directly to class size, it’s a good indicator of how much time professors will have to spend with their students on a one-on-one basis.

Percent of Full-Time Faculty

When estimating how much access students will have to their teachers, some people like to look at what percentage of faculty members are full time. This is because part-time teachers may not have as much time to spend on campus as their full-time counterparts.

The full-time faculty percentage at Howard Community College is 27%. This is lower than the national average of 47%.

Full-Time Faculty Percent  27 out of 100
0
100

What Are the Graduation and Retention Rates at Howard Community College?

69% Freshmen Retention
24% On-Time Graduation Rate

Freshmen Retention Rate

The freshmen retention rate tells us what percentage of first-year, full-time students choose to continue on to their sophomore year at a particular school. The rate at Howard Community College is 69%, which is about average when compared to the national rate of 68%.

Freshmen Retention Rate  69 out of 100
0
100

Graduation Rate

When we say that a student has graduated on time, we mean that they have finished their bachelor’s degree within four years. The on-time graduation rate at Howard Community College is 24%. That’s lower than the national rate of 33.3%.

On-Time Graduation Rate  24 out of 100
0
100

Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at Howard Community College.

How Diverse Is Howard Community College?

6,649 Undergraduate Students
62.8% Racial-Ethnic Minorities*
57.4% Percent Women

In the current academic year, there are 6,649 undergraduates at Howard Community College.

Get more detailed information on the diversity at Howard Community College.

How Much Does Howard Community College Cost?

$17,140 Net Price
7% Take Out Loans
$24,508 Total Student Loans

The average net price of Howard Community College is $17,140. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group. See the table below for the net price for different income groups.

Net Price by Income Group for Howard Community College

$0-30 K $30K-48K $48-75 $75-110K $110K +
$9,714 $9,924 $12,198 $14,104 $15,881

The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid. Note that the net price is typically less than the published price for a school. For more information on the sticker price of Howard Community College, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.

Student Loan Debt

While almost two-thirds of students nationwide take out loans to pay for college, the percentage may be quite different for the school you plan on attending. At Howard Community College, approximately 7% of students took out student loans averaging $6,127 a year. That adds up to $24,508 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate is 6.9%. Although this is lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, you’ll still want to keep this in mind when taking out student loans. Get more details about paying for Howard Community College.

How Much Do Howard Community College Graduates Earn?

$49,020 Avg Salary of Grads
Average Earnings Boost

Although some majors pay more than others, students who graduate from Howard Community College with a bachelor’s degree go on to jobs where they make an average salary of $49,020 in their early years. This is in the same neighborhood of the average college graduate’s salary of $49,219 per year. However, certain majors may produce higher-paying graduates. Average Salary for Howard Community College Graduates

See which majors at Howard Community College make the most money.

Where Is Howard Community College Located?

Maryland State
6,649 Undergraduate Students
Midsize City Campus Setting

Howard Community College is an public institution found in Columbia, Maryland. The location of the school is great for students who enjoy the amenities of city life. Get more details about the location of Howard Community College.

Location of Howard Community College

Get in touch with Howard Community College are given below.

Contact Details
Address: 10901 Little Patuxent Pkwy, Columbia, MD 21044-3197
Phone: 4435181000
Website: www.howardcc.edu

What Majors Does Howard Community College Offer?

13 Majors With Completions
2,682 Undergraduate Degrees

In the latest year of available data, students from 13 majors graduated from Howard Community College. The following table lists the most popular undergraduate majors along with the average salary graduates from those majors make.

Most Popular Majors Completions Average Salary of Graduates
Multi-Disciplinary Studies 1,341 NA
Liberal Arts General Studies 738 $25,229
Nursing 206 $63,644
Business & Commerce 62 NA
Allied Health Professions 59 $58,405
Management Information Systems 48 NA
Computer Information Systems 29 NA
Culinary Arts 28 NA
Nursing & Nursing Assistants 25 NA
Accounting 16 NA

Learn more about the majors offered at Howard Community College along with which ones have the highest average starting salaries.

Does Howard Community College Offer Online Classes?

86% Take At Least One Class Online
28% Take All Classes Online

5,742 students took at least one online class at Howard Community College.

Online courses are a great option for busy, working students as well as for those who have scheduling conflicts and want to study on their own time. As time goes by, expect to see more and more online learning options become available.

Learn more about online learning at Howard Community College.

Curious how schools stack up against Howard Community College? Match them up using College Combat, our free tool for head-to-head college comparisons.

Notes and References

Footnotes

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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