Finger Lakes
Community College
Public Community College in Canandaigua, NY. Six-year graduation rate 30%. Median 10-year earnings $40,054.
Median earnings ten years after entry come to $40,054, below what most undergraduate institutions return — the central fact to weigh against cost here. Completion is the weak point: 30% graduate within six years. Graduates leave owing a median of $12,975 — 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 0.32 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Graduation rate 30% — below national average
Academics
A six-year graduation rate of 30% means finishing is closer to the exception than the rule. Retention is weak: only 53% of full-time first-years return, so roughly one in two leave after one year. The two rates sit near each other: few students who return for a second year are missing from the six-year completion figure. 20% transfer out. IPEDS does not follow them, so whether they finished elsewhere is not recorded either way. The 15:1 student-faculty ratio is small enough that seminar-sized classes are the norm.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 2,900 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
At $13,003 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 $11,044 while those at $110k+ pay $19,157. 61% of students receive grant aid, averaging $5,870 — common but not automatic. Federal borrowing reaches 48% 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 · 846 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 | $11,044 |
| $30–48k | $12,386 |
| $48–75k | $15,248 |
| $75–110k | $17,058 |
| $110k+ | $19,157 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 1,390 of these 2,900 students, totalling $8,382,544 — an average of $6,031 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Ontario 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)