Middlesex Community College
Public Community College in Bedford, MA. Six-year graduation rate 23%. Median 10-year earnings $50,651.
The median ten-year earnings figure of $50,651 sits near the national middle rather than at either extreme. Only 23% finish within six years, so roughly three in four students leave without the credential they enrolled for. Median debt at graduation is $7,291, 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 0.14 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Graduation rate 23% — below national average
Academics
Completion is the problem here: 23% 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. The distance between those two figures is the part worth noticing — students return for a second year at a much higher rate than they graduate, so attrition here is spread across the middle years rather than concentrated in the first. 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.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 4,658 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price is $2,430 a year after grant aid — low for a four-year institution, though your own figure depends on aid eligibility. Net price varies modestly by income — $943 at $0–30k against $8,426 at $110k+ — so the average is a fair guide for most families. 55% of students receive grant aid, averaging $7,197 — common but not automatic. 9% borrow federally — a low rate, though it covers federal loans only.
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 · 473 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 | $943 |
| $30–48k | $1,646 |
| $48–75k | $1,399 |
| $75–110k | $4,356 |
| $110k+ | $8,426 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 438 of these 4,658 students, totalling $2,209,598 — an average of $5,045 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)