Henry Ford College
Public Community College in Dearborn, MI. Six-year graduation rate 17%. Median 10-year earnings $34,795.
Median earnings ten years after entry come to $34,795, below what most undergraduate institutions return — the central fact to weigh against cost here. Only 17% finish within six years, so roughly four in five students leave without the credential they enrolled for. Median debt at graduation is $14,250, 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.
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Graduation rate 17% — below national average
Academics
Only 17% finish within six years, so roughly four in five students leave without the credential. Transfer-out runs to 29% — common enough at this school that the completion rate is measuring a smaller group than the entering class. At 25:1, instructor access is thin — worth probing on a campus visit. As a public four-year university, the relevant comparison is other four-year schools rather than the national average across all institutions. 11,239 undergraduates puts this among the larger schools, which usually means more choice and less individual attention.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 8,695 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price is $1,064 a year after grant aid — low for a four-year institution, though your own figure depends on aid eligibility. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $46 while those at $110k+ pay $8,208. About 69% get grants averaging $6,749, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. Only 22% take federal loans. Private borrowing is not captured in this figure.
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 · 1,289 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 | $46 |
| $30–48k | $507 |
| $48–75k | $1,768 |
| $75–110k | $4,891 |
| $110k+ | $8,208 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 1,906 of these 8,695 students, totalling $10,760,715 — an average of $5,646 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Wayne 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)