Craven Community College
Public Community College in New Bern, NC. Six-year graduation rate 48%. Median 10-year earnings $34,231.
Median earnings ten years after entry come to $34,231, below what most undergraduate institutions return — the central fact to weigh against cost here. The six-year graduation rate is 48%, meaning about one in two students who start do not finish. Mobility is where this school separates itself: 2.5% 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.
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Academics
Six-year completion sits at 48%, meaning about one in two students who enroll leave without finishing. 66% of full-time first-years come back for year two, so about one in three are gone before sophomore year. Retention and graduation track closely, so most of the attrition shows up in the first year rather than after it. A 13% 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. At 13:1, students get materially more instructor contact than at a typical public university.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,872 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $3,596 annually, well below typical undergraduate net price. Income makes less difference than usual: $2,428 at $0–30k, $7,519 at $75–110k. Most students get help: 90% receive grants worth $3,315 on average.
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 · 143 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 | $2,428 |
| $30–48k | $2,132 |
| $48–75k | $5,811 |
| $75–110k | $7,519 |
| $110k+ | — |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Craven 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)