Cape Cod
Community College
Public Community College in West Barnstable, MA. Six-year graduation rate 22%. Median 10-year earnings $43,670.
Students who entered Cape Cod Community College land at a median of $43,670 a decade later, close to what most four-year schools deliver. Completion is the weak point: 22% graduate within six years. Graduates leave owing a median of $12,000 — modest by four-year standards. Mobility is where this school separates itself: 2.1% of students move from the bottom income quintile 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 0.27 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Graduation rate 22% — below national average
Academics
Completion is the problem here: 22% graduate within six years. 69% 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. Part-time students fare worse, returning at 54% — relevant if you plan to work while enrolled.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 2,223 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $8,799 annually, well below typical undergraduate net price. Income makes less difference than usual: $8,253 at $0–30k, $14,779 at $110k+. About 61% get grants averaging $5,225, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. Federal borrowing is uncommon here at 11% 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 · 176 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 | $8,253 |
| $30–48k | $5,991 |
| $48–75k | $7,089 |
| $75–110k | $10,381 |
| $110k+ | $14,779 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 253 of these 2,223 students, totalling $1,629,470 — an average of $6,441 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Barnstable 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)