Herkimer County
Community College
Public Community College in Herkimer, NY. Six-year graduation rate 35%. Median 10-year earnings $39,199.
Ten-year median earnings of $39,199 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 $11,365, 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 0.29 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Academics
A six-year graduation rate of 35% means finishing is closer to the exception than the rule. Retention is weak: only 59% of full-time first-years return, so roughly two in five leave after one year. Retention and completion are close, which places the gap between entering and finishing almost entirely in year one. A 21% 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 14:1, 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 1,144 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price is $12,513 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 $10,545 while those at $110k+ pay $19,479. Grant aid reaches 74% of students at an average of $7,646. 45% of students take federal loans, a middling borrowing rate.
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 · 321 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 | $10,545 |
| $30–48k | $12,616 |
| $48–75k | $14,915 |
| $75–110k | $16,059 |
| $110k+ | $19,479 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 519 of these 1,144 students, totalling $2,981,887 — an average of $5,745 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Herkimer 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)