Minnesota West
Community and Technical College
Public Community College in Granite Falls, MN. Six-year graduation rate 52%. Median 10-year earnings $45,285.
Ten years after entry, the median Minnesota West Community and Technical College student earns $45,285 — a solidly middle-of-the-pack result for an undergraduate institution. Six-year completion sits at 52%, near the national average for undergraduate institutions. Median debt at graduation is $10,987, 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 0.24 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Academics
Six-year completion sits at 52%, meaning about one in two students who enroll leave without finishing. 68% of full-time first-years come back for year two, so about one in three are gone before sophomore year. Retention and completion are close, which places the gap between entering and finishing almost entirely in year one. Transfer-out runs to 15% — common enough at this school that the completion rate is measuring a smaller group than the entering class. A 18:1 ratio is unremarkable; expect a mix of lecture halls and seminars.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,700 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price is $10,638 a year after grant aid — low for a four-year institution, though your own figure depends on aid eligibility. Income makes less difference than usual: $8,950 at $0–30k, $16,499 at $110k+. 64% of students receive grant aid, averaging $4,922 — common but not automatic. About 26% borrow federally, roughly the national pattern.
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 · 310 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 | $8,950 |
| $30–48k | $9,317 |
| $48–75k | $10,083 |
| $75–110k | $13,563 |
| $110k+ | $16,499 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 438 of these 1,700 students, totalling $2,568,490 — an average of $5,864 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Yellow Medicine 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)