Bellevue College
Public Community College in Bellevue, WA. Six-year graduation rate 36%. Median 10-year earnings $56,310.
Ten years after entry, the median Bellevue College student earns $56,310 — a solidly middle-of-the-pack result for an undergraduate institution. The six-year graduation rate is 36% — low enough that finishing cannot be treated as the default outcome. Graduates leave owing a median of $12,375 — 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 0.22 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Academics
Completion is the problem here: 36% graduate within six years. A 24% 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 14:1, students get materially more instructor contact than at a typical public university. As a public four-year university, the relevant comparison is other four-year schools rather than the national average across all institutions. 11,472 undergraduates puts this among the larger schools, which usually means more choice and less individual attention.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 6,901 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
At $13,932 a year on average after grant aid, cost is low here relative to most undergraduate institutions. The income table below is the number that matters — $9,500 at $0–30k versus $19,973 at $110k+. Only 30% of students receive grant aid, so most families are paying near the published price. 5% 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 · 849 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 | $9,500 |
| $30–48k | $10,049 |
| $48–75k | $13,829 |
| $75–110k | $16,815 |
| $110k+ | $19,973 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 325 of these 6,901 students, totalling $2,259,450 — an average of $6,952 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (King 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)