Beal University
For-profit Community College in Bangor, ME. Six-year graduation rate 36%. Median 10-year earnings $35,639.
Ten-year median earnings of $35,639 are on the low side, which raises the bar for what this degree needs to cost. The six-year graduation rate is 36% — low enough that finishing cannot be treated as the default outcome. Median debt at graduation is $19,500, roughly typical for an undergraduate degree.
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
Academics
A six-year graduation rate of 36% means finishing is closer to the exception than the rule. Retention is weak: only 25% of full-time first-years return, so roughly three in four leave after one year. The 14:1 student-faculty ratio is small enough that seminar-sized classes are the norm. Being a for-profit four-year institution is the single most useful context for these numbers — the sector's spread is wide enough that the school-level figures matter more than usual. The undergraduate body is just 680, which shapes everything from class size to how often a required course is offered.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 671 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay $40,109 a year on average after aid, a premium price that the earnings data has to justify. Income makes less difference than usual: $37,660 at $0–30k, $42,643 at $110k+. Grant aid is widespread — 87% of students receive it, averaging $4,800. 66% of students borrow federally, so debt is the norm rather than the exception.
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 · 172 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 | $37,660 |
| $30–48k | $37,580 |
| $48–75k | $41,605 |
| $75–110k | $43,903 |
| $110k+ | $42,643 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 442 of these 671 students, totalling $3,828,527 — an average of $8,662 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Penobscot 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)