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Public Community College

Bates Technical College

Public Community College in Tacoma, WA. Six-year graduation rate 43%. Median 10-year earnings $50,051.

Verdict Mixed outcomes
Bates Technical College · Campus
Median earnings · 10 yr
$50,051
Mobility score
1.8
% bottom→top quintile
Graduation rate
43.4%
Federal loan default
0%

Ten years after entry, the median Bates Technical College student earns $50,051 — a solidly middle-of-the-pack result for an undergraduate institution. 43% finish within six years — respectable, though a meaningful share still leave without a credential.

Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.

Green Flags
  • 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Red Flags

Academics

Full-time retention
Transfer-out rate
8%
Student:faculty
21:1

43% graduate within six years — average, but that average still hides a large group who do not. At 21:1, class sizes land in the normal range for an undergraduate institution. Judge these figures against other institutions of the same type — sector explains more of the variation in completion than any single campus factor. 3,817 undergraduates makes this a mid-sized institution.

Financial Aid

Average net price
$7,963
Full-time, first-time undergraduates paying the in-state rate who were awarded grant or scholarship aid
% receiving grants
48%
degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
% receiving federal loans
6%
degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,613 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates

Average net price is $7,963 a year after grant aid — low for a four-year institution, though your own figure depends on aid eligibility. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $4,403 while those at $110k+ pay $17,404. Only 48% of students receive grant aid, so most families are paying near the published price. 6% 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.

% receiving grants
33%
Average grant
$10,479

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 430 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 $4,403
$30–48k $7,013
$48–75k $7,371
$75–110k $12,978
$110k+ $17,404

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24

Federal student loans went to 96 of these 1,613 students, totalling $570,552 — an average of $5,943 each.

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24

Local housing costs

Typical rents near campus (Pierce County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.

Studio
$1,428/mo
1 bedroom
$1,605/mo
2 bedroom (whole unit)
$1,971/mo

HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026

Compare Bates Technical College with peer institutions

How we evaluate Bates Technical College

IPEDS
US Department of Education
College Scorecard
Post-grad earnings
Census PSEO
Earnings by major
Opportunity Insights
Mobility by institution
Read our full methodology →