Bergen Community College
Public Community College in Paramus, NJ. Six-year graduation rate 21%. Median 10-year earnings $46,624.
Students who entered Bergen Community College land at a median of $46,624 a decade later, close to what most four-year schools deliver. Completion is the weak point: 21% graduate within six years. Borrowing stays contained, with median debt at graduation of $12,000. It also moves people — 3.1% of students climb from the bottom fifth of the income distribution to the top.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.26 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Graduation rate 21% — below national average
Academics
A six-year graduation rate of 21% means finishing is closer to the exception than the rule. 64% of full-time first-years come back for year two, so about one in three are gone before sophomore year. That gap between coming back and finishing is where this school loses people — after the first year, not during it. A 15% 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. Retention drops to 43% for part-time students, a gap worth weighing if full-time study is not realistic.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 10,598 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price is $9,973 a year after grant aid — low for a four-year institution, though your own figure depends on aid eligibility. The income table below is the number that matters — $8,532 at $0–30k versus $16,919 at $110k+. Grant aid is limited — 49% of students receive any. Federal borrowing is uncommon here at 21% of students.
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 · 2,062 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 | $8,532 |
| $30–48k | $8,768 |
| $48–75k | $10,964 |
| $75–110k | $13,927 |
| $110k+ | $16,919 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 2,184 of these 10,598 students, totalling $12,059,141 — an average of $5,522 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Bergen 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)