Middlesex College
Public Community College in Edison, NJ. Six-year graduation rate 33%. Median 10-year earnings $46,861.
The median ten-year earnings figure of $46,861 sits near the national middle rather than at either extreme. Completion is the weak point: 33% graduate within six years. Median debt at graduation is $9,750, 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 0.21 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Graduation rate 33% — below national average
Academics
Only 33% finish within six years, so roughly two in three students leave without the credential. Retention of 72% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. That gap between coming back and finishing is where this school loses people — after the first year, not during it. A 15% 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. Retention drops to 49% for part-time students, a gap worth weighing if full-time study is not realistic.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 8,321 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
At $2,314 a year on average after grant aid, cost is low here relative to most undergraduate institutions. Income makes less difference than usual: $1,306 at $0–30k, $4,504 at $110k+. About 56% get grants averaging $5,515, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. Federal borrowing is uncommon here at 5% 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 · 1,720 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 | $1,306 |
| $30–48k | $1,435 |
| $48–75k | $3,653 |
| $75–110k | $4,050 |
| $110k+ | $4,504 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 456 of these 8,321 students, totalling $2,480,222 — an average of $5,439 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Middlesex 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)