by our College Data Analytics TeamSOWELA Technical Community College is a public institution in Lake Charles, Louisiana enrolling 2,966 undergraduates. It has an on-time graduation rate of 43%, above the national average of 33%. College Factual ranks it #1,445 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in its 2027 Best Colleges ranking (top 28%), 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.
SOWELA Technical Community College ranks #1,445 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges ranking, placing it in the top 28%.
In its yearly rankings, College Factual analyzes over 2,000 colleges and universities to determine which ones are the best in a variety of categories, such as overall value, quality, diversity, which schools are the best for each major, and much more.
SOWELA Technical Community College was awarded 125 badges in the 2027 rankings.
SOWELA is ranked #1,445 out of 5,159 schools in the nation for overall quality on College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges list.
Within the state, SOWELA holds the #12 spot on the Best Colleges in Louisiana ranking.
See all of the rankings for SOWELA Technical Community College.
Learn more about SOWELA Technical Community College admissions.
The student to faculty ratio at SOWELA Technical Community College is 19 to 1, which is high when compared to the national average of 15 to 1. This may indicate that some of your classes will be larger in size than they would be at other schools. However, upper level classes will probably be smaller.
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 SOWELA Technical Community College is 64%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.
The freshmen retention rate is a sign of how many full-time students like a college or university well enough to come back for their sophomore year. At SOWELA Technical Community College this rate is 59%, which is a bit lower than the national average of 68%.
The on-time graduation rate for someone pursuing a bachelor’s degree is typically four years. This rate at SOWELA for first-time, full-time students is 43%, which is better than the national average of 33.3%.
Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at SOWELA Technical Community College.
The current enrollment includes 2,966 undergraduates at SOWELA.
Get more detailed information on the diversity at SOWELA Technical Community College.
The average net price of SOWELA is $17,140. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group. 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 SOWELA, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.
Yearly salaries vary depending on what you major in, but on average, bachelor’s degree recipients from SOWELA Technical Community College make around $32,303 per year during the early years of their employment. This is about 34% less than the average pay for college graduates overall. However, graduates with your major may make more.
See which majors at SOWELA Technical Community College make the most money.
SOWELA Technical Community College is an public institution situated in Lake Charles, Louisiana. The surrounding area of the school is a good match for students who enjoy city life. Get more details about the location of SOWELA Technical Community College.
Contact details for SOWELA Technical Community College are given below.
| Contact Details | |
|---|---|
| Address: | 3820 Senator J. Bennett Johnston Ave, Lake Charles, LA 70615 |
| Phone: | 3374216565 |
| Website: | www.sowela.edu |
In the most recent reporting year, students from 15 majors graduated from SOWELA Technical 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 | 2,391 | NA |
| Electrical & Power Installation | 312 | NA |
| Electromechanical Engineering | 300 | $53,999 |
| Industrial Production Technology | 293 | $74,657 |
| Liberal Arts General Studies | 241 | NA |
| Business & Commerce | 196 | NA |
| Accounting | 174 | NA |
| Precision Metal Working | 145 | NA |
| Computer Information Systems | 128 | NA |
| Culinary Arts | 120 | NA |
1,775 students took at least one online class at SOWELA Technical Community College.
Online learning is becoming popular at even the oldest colleges and universities in the United States. Not only are online classes great for returning adults with busy schedules, they are also frequented by a growing number of traditional students.
Learn more about online learning at SOWELA Technical Community College.
Interested in comparing SOWELA? Match them up using College Combat, our free interactive tool that lets you compare colleges on the features that matter most to you.
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.