Atlantic Cape
Community College
Public Community College in Mays Landing, NJ. Six-year graduation rate 30%. Median 10-year earnings $34,241.
Median earnings ten years after entry come to $34,241, below what most undergraduate institutions return — the central fact to weigh against cost here. Only 30% finish within six years, so roughly two in three students leave without the credential they enrolled for. Graduates leave owing a median of $9,500 — modest by four-year standards.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.28 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Graduation rate 30% — below national average
Academics
Completion is the problem here: 30% graduate within six years. Retention is weak: only 57% of full-time first-years return, so roughly two in five leave after one year. The distance between those two figures is the part worth noticing — students return for a second year at a much higher rate than they graduate, so attrition here is spread across the middle years rather than concentrated in the first. A 14% transfer-out rate accounts for part of that gap: those students left for another institution rather than dropping out, and the graduation rate above counts them as non-completers here. At 18:1, class sizes land in the normal range for an undergraduate institution.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 3,860 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
At $8,463 a year on average after grant aid, cost is low here relative to most undergraduate institutions. Net price varies modestly by income — $7,383 at $0–30k against $15,115 at $110k+ — so the average is a fair guide for most families. About 67% get grants averaging $5,520, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. Only 8% take federal loans. Private borrowing is not captured in this figure.
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 · 634 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 | $7,383 |
| $30–48k | $7,168 |
| $48–75k | $9,449 |
| $75–110k | $11,426 |
| $110k+ | $15,115 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 309 of these 3,860 students, totalling $1,664,838 — an average of $5,388 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Atlantic 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)