Southwestern Michigan College

Southwestern Michigan College logo
#11832 / #3125
Global Influence / U.S. Influence
Community college in Michigan, U.S.

Southwestern Michigan College at a Glance

U.S. influence rank
#3125
Tuition and fees (2025–26)
$6,704
Graduation rate
36%
Undergraduates (fall 2024)
1,431

Reviewed by , Vice President and Academic Editor. Influence ranks come from our InfluenceRanking™ methodology; other figures come from federal data, with the year shown under each section. Report an error

Southwestern Michigan College Featured Rankings

About Southwestern Michigan College

According to Wikipedia, Southwestern Michigan College is a public community college with its main campus near Dowagiac, Michigan. It also has a campus just outside the city limits of Niles, Michigan. History Southwestern Michigan College was founded on November 19, 1964 after the voters of Cass County, Michigan approved a $1.5 million tax levy to fund a Cass County Community College. On September 12, 1965, ground was broken for the main campus in Dowagiac, Michigan. Classes began at Southwestern Michigan College in September 1966. The college is located three miles outside of Dowagiac, Michigan city limits.

Southwestern Michigan College's Online Degrees

AAS in Early Childhood Education
  • Required Credits: 61
  • Completion Time: 2 years
  • Format: Fully online
AAS in Criminal Justice
  • Required Credits: 62
  • Completion Time: 2 years
AAS in Neurodiagnostic Technology (EEG)
  • Required Credits: 60
AAS in Nursing
  • Required Credits: 60
  • Completion Time: 2 years
  • Format: Fully online

Southwestern Michigan College Admissions, Retention, and Graduation Information

Retention RateGraduation Rate
57%36%

Source: U.S. Department of Education (College Scorecard and NCES); acceptance rate for fall 2024; test scores for fall 2024; applications and enrollment for fall 2023; retention for students who started in fall 2023; graduation rate within six years for students who started in 2019.

How Much Does Southwestern Michigan College Cost To Attend?

Tuition and fees (in-state)
$6,704
Average Net Price by Family Income (2024–25)
IncomeAverage Net Cost
0 - 30K$5,731
30K - 48K$7,198
48K - 75K$5,458
75K - 110K$9,297
110K+$9,311

Source: U.S. Department of Education (College Scorecard and NCES); tuition and fees for 2025–26; net price for 2024–25, for first-time, full-time students receiving financial aid.

How Much Do Southwestern Michigan College Graduates Make?

Ten years after starting college, former Southwestern Michigan College students who received federal financial aid earn a median of $42,389 a year, and 88% of those not still in school are working.

Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard; students who started college in 2011–12 or 2012–13, measured in 2022 and 2023, in 2024 dollars.

Southwestern Michigan College's Demographics

Students enrolled at any time during the 2023–24 school year, including part-time and online students.

Student BodyUnder-Grads
2,3392,339

Source: National Center for Education Statistics; 12-month enrollment for 2023–24.

Where is Southwestern Michigan College?

Southwestern Michigan College is located at 58900 Cherry Grove Rd, Dowagiac, MI 49047-9793.

How Safe is Southwestern Michigan College?

Like every college that receives federal student aid, Southwestern Michigan College publishes an annual security report with its campus crime statistics and safety policies. Its figures can also be looked up in the U.S. Department of Education’s Campus Safety and Security database.

Relative to its enrollment, Southwestern Michigan College has a violent crime rate of 0.15% and a property crime rate of less than 0.01%. Dowagiac has a violent crime rate of 0.69% and a property (including theft) crime rate of 3.46%. Sources: campus: U.S. Department of Education Campus Safety and Security data, on-campus offenses in 2024 (violent: murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault; property: burglary, motor vehicle theft and arson, which excludes ordinary theft); city: FBI Crime Data Explorer, offenses reported to the city police in 2024.

What Is Southwestern Michigan College Known For?

Southwestern Michigan College is known for its academic work in the following disciplines:

Southwestern Michigan College's Top Areas of Influence With Degrees Offered

Each rank compares how much Southwestern Michigan College's faculty and alumni have shaped a field with other schools, using Wikipedia, Wikidata and scholarly citation databases such as Crossref and Semantic Scholar. World and U.S. ranks reflect modern influence; the historical rank counts influence across all time. How we rank influence

Engineering
#9230
World Rank
#9236
Historical Rank
#1966
USA Rank

Southwestern Michigan College ranks #1966 in the U.S. and #9230 worldwide for influence in Engineering.

engineering Degrees
Criminal Justice
#3891
World Rank
#3894
Historical Rank
#1966
USA Rank

Southwestern Michigan College ranks #1966 in the U.S. and #3891 worldwide for influence in Criminal Justice.

criminal-justice Degrees
Medical
#8335
World Rank
#8337
Historical Rank
#2368
USA Rank

Southwestern Michigan College ranks #2368 in the U.S. and #8335 worldwide for influence in Medical.

medicine Degrees
Communications
#8787
World Rank
#8807
Historical Rank
#2388
USA Rank

Southwestern Michigan College ranks #2388 in the U.S. and #8787 worldwide for influence in Communications.

communications Degrees
Business
#9048
World Rank
#9049
Historical Rank
#2535
USA Rank

Southwestern Michigan College ranks #2535 in the U.S. and #9048 worldwide for influence in Business.

business Degrees
Education
#10998
World Rank
#11004
Historical Rank
#2993
USA Rank

Southwestern Michigan College ranks #2993 in the U.S. and #10998 worldwide for influence in Education.

education Degrees
Computer Science
#12111
World Rank
#12118
Historical Rank
#3339
USA Rank

Southwestern Michigan College ranks #3339 in the U.S. and #12111 worldwide for influence in Computer Science.

computer-science Degrees