Jefferson Community College
Public Community College in Watertown, NY. Six-year graduation rate 28%. Median 10-year earnings $39,991.
Median earnings ten years after entry come to $39,991, below what most undergraduate institutions return — the central fact to weigh against cost here. Only 28% finish within six years, so roughly three in four students leave without the credential they enrolled for. Median debt at graduation is $12,000, a light load against those earnings. Mobility is where this school separates itself: 2.1% 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.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.30 — 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. Just 56% of first-years come back — most of the completion gap opens in year one. Retention runs well ahead of completion, which means students are not leaving immediately; they are leaving somewhere between the second year and the finish line. A 20% 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. The part-time picture is harder: 35% return, against 56% full-time.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,525 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price is $11,328 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 $8,754 while those at $110k+ pay $18,472. 67% of students receive grant aid, averaging $6,702 — common but not automatic. Federal borrowing reaches 33% 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 · 446 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 | $8,754 |
| $30–48k | $9,100 |
| $48–75k | $13,669 |
| $75–110k | $15,928 |
| $110k+ | $18,472 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 501 of these 1,525 students, totalling $2,915,275 — an average of $5,819 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Jefferson 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)