Caldwell Community
College and Technical Institute
Public Community College in Hudson, NC. Six-year graduation rate 45%. Median 10-year earnings $34,515.
Students who entered Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute reach a median of $34,515 a decade later, a figure that trails the typical four-year outcome. Six-year completion sits at 45%, near the national average for undergraduate institutions. Borrowing stays contained, with median debt at graduation of $8,750.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.25 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Mobility score 0.9 — limited economic uplift documented
Academics
Completion is middling: 45% finish inside six years. First-year retention is 71% — the single largest point of attrition on this campus. The distance between those two figures is the part worth noticing — students return for a second year at a much higher rate than they graduate, so attrition here is spread across the middle years rather than concentrated in the first. Transfer-out runs to 17% — common enough at this school that the completion rate is measuring a smaller group than the entering class. Part-time students fare worse, returning at 50% — relevant if you plan to work while enrolled.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 2,331 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
At $11,253 a year on average after grant aid, cost is low here relative to most undergraduate institutions. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $8,827 while those at $110k+ pay $17,271. Grant aid reaches 60% of students at an average of $8,443.
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 · 238 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 | $8,827 |
| $30–48k | $10,162 |
| $48–75k | $13,646 |
| $75–110k | $14,891 |
| $110k+ | $17,271 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Caldwell 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)