BridgeValley Community
& Technical College
Public Community College in South Charleston, WV. Six-year graduation rate 34%. Median 10-year earnings $36,432.
Median earnings ten years after entry come to $36,432, below what most undergraduate institutions return — the central fact to weigh against cost here. The six-year graduation rate is 34% — low enough that finishing cannot be treated as the default outcome. Median debt at graduation is $9,829, a light load against those earnings.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.27 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Graduation rate 34% — below national average
Academics
Completion is the problem here: 34% graduate within six years. Just 47% of first-years come back — most of the completion gap opens in year one. Retention and graduation track closely, so most of the attrition shows up in the first year rather than after it. Transfer-out runs to 13% — common enough at this school that the completion rate is measuring a smaller group than the entering class. The part-time picture is harder: 35% return, against 47% full-time.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,756 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $6,166 annually, well below typical undergraduate net price. The gap between the $0–30k and $110k+ bands is narrow ($4,321 versus $7,509), meaning aid is not strongly need-weighted. 66% of students receive grant aid, averaging $5,132 — common but not automatic. Federal borrowing is uncommon here at 23% 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 · 349 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 | $4,321 |
| $30–48k | $4,539 |
| $48–75k | $7,211 |
| $75–110k | $6,446 |
| $110k+ | $7,509 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 404 of these 1,756 students, totalling $2,402,930 — an average of $5,948 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Kanawha County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
Loss of Accreditation or Preaccreditation: Other (Other - Provide unlisted or multiple justifications); School has an accreditation issue
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)