Erie Community College
Public Community College in Buffalo, NY. Six-year graduation rate 28%. Median 10-year earnings $41,228.
Students who entered Erie Community College reach a median of $41,228 a decade later, a figure that trails the typical four-year outcome. Only 28% finish within six years, so roughly three in four students leave without the credential they enrolled for. Graduates leave owing a median of $9,250 — modest by four-year standards.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.22 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Graduation rate 28% — below national average
Academics
Only 28% finish within six years, so roughly three in four students leave without the credential. Retention is weak: only 56% of full-time first-years return, so roughly two in five leave after one year. 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. The part-time picture is harder: 30% return, against 56% full-time.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 5,909 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
At $7,155 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 $5,730 while those at $110k+ pay $13,912. About 56% get grants averaging $6,286, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. About 30% borrow federally, roughly the national pattern.
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 · 1,691 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 | $5,730 |
| $30–48k | $7,506 |
| $48–75k | $9,571 |
| $75–110k | $11,798 |
| $110k+ | $13,912 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 1,761 of these 5,909 students, totalling $10,349,876 — an average of $5,877 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Erie 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)