Asheville-Buncombe Technical
Community College
Public Community College in Asheville, NC. Six-year graduation rate 40%. Median 10-year earnings $36,048.
Median earnings ten years after entry come to $36,048, below what most undergraduate institutions return — the central fact to weigh against cost here. Completion is the weak point: 40% graduate within six years. Median debt at graduation is $15,528, a light load against those earnings.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Mobility score 0.8 — limited economic uplift documented
Academics
Completion is the problem here: 40% graduate within six years. Just 59% of first-years come back — most of the completion gap opens in year one. The two rates sit near each other: few students who return for a second year are missing from the six-year completion figure. The part-time picture is harder: 47% return, against 59% full-time. A 13:1 ratio points to small classes and accessible faculty.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 4,909 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
At $11,602 a year on average after grant aid, cost is low here relative to most undergraduate institutions. Net price varies modestly by income — $11,491 at $0–30k against $12,786 at $110k+ — so the average is a fair guide for most families. 92% of students get grant aid averaging $1,896, so the published price is a poor guide to what most pay. 4% borrow federally — a low rate, though it covers federal loans only.
Entering first-year students
A different, smaller group than the rates above: full-time students in their first year of college anywhere. The grant series here also excludes the "other sources" counted in the all-undergraduate figure, so the two are not comparable.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 210 students
Net price by family income
The same students as the headline above, limited to those who received Title IV federal aid — a narrower group, with a lower overall average. IPEDS publishes no combined figure across these bands, so they should not be averaged into one.
| Family income band | Average net price |
|---|---|
| $0–30k | $11,491 |
| $30–48k | $11,720 |
| $48–75k | $11,862 |
| $75–110k | $11,877 |
| $110k+ | $12,786 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 189 of these 4,909 students, totalling $1,982,750 — an average of $10,491 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Buncombe County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)