Kalamazoo Valley
Community College
Public Community College in Kalamazoo, MI. Six-year graduation rate 28%. Median 10-year earnings $38,618.
Median earnings ten years after entry come to $38,618, below what most undergraduate institutions return — the central fact to weigh against cost here. Completion is the weak point: 28% graduate within six years. Graduates leave owing a median of $9,699 — 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 0.25 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Mobility score 0.8 — limited economic uplift documented
- ! Graduation rate 28% — below national average
Academics
Completion is the problem here: 28% graduate within six years. 64% of full-time first-years come back for year two, so about one in three are gone before sophomore year. That gap between coming back and finishing is where this school loses people — after the first year, not during it. A 23% 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: 50% return, against 64% full-time.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 4,887 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $4,436 annually, well below typical undergraduate net price. Income makes less difference than usual: $1,290 at $0–30k, $8,353 at $110k+. 62% of students receive grant aid, averaging $5,837 — common but not automatic. Federal borrowing is uncommon here at 22% 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 · 484 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 | $1,290 |
| $30–48k | $1,859 |
| $48–75k | $4,119 |
| $75–110k | $6,989 |
| $110k+ | $8,353 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 1,073 of these 4,887 students, totalling $6,521,024 — an average of $6,077 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Kalamazoo 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)