Catawba Valley
Community College
Public Community College in Hickory, NC. Six-year graduation rate 35%. Median 10-year earnings $36,977.
Ten-year median earnings of $36,977 are on the low side, which raises the bar for what this degree needs to cost. The six-year graduation rate is 35% — low enough that finishing cannot be treated as the default outcome. Median debt at graduation is $4,938, 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 0.13 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Mobility score 0.6 — limited economic uplift documented
Academics
Only 35% finish within six years, so roughly two in three students leave without the credential. Retention of 65% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. 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. 33% of students transfer out, which reframes what the graduation rate above is measuring. The part-time picture is harder: 53% return, against 65% full-time.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 3,483 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price is $10,996 a year after grant aid — low for a four-year institution, though your own figure depends on aid eligibility. Net price varies modestly by income — $9,170 at $0–30k against $15,469 at $75–110k — so the average is a fair guide for most families. Grant aid is limited — 39% of students receive any.
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 · 262 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 | $9,170 |
| $30–48k | $9,639 |
| $48–75k | $13,129 |
| $75–110k | $15,469 |
| $110k+ | — |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Catawba 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)