Montcalm Community College
Public Community College in Sidney, MI. Six-year graduation rate 31%. Median 10-year earnings $35,499.
Median earnings ten years after entry come to $35,499, below what most undergraduate institutions return — the central fact to weigh against cost here. The six-year graduation rate is 31% — low enough that finishing cannot be treated as the default outcome. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $16,500, neither a bargain nor a burden.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Graduation rate 31% — below national average
Academics
A six-year graduation rate of 31% means finishing is closer to the exception than the rule. Retention is weak: only 57% of full-time first-years return, so roughly two in five leave after one 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. 23% transfer out. IPEDS does not follow them, so whether they finished elsewhere is not recorded either way. At 13:1, students get materially more instructor contact than at a typical public university.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,040 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
At $8,640 a year on average after grant aid, cost is low here relative to most undergraduate institutions. Income makes less difference than usual: $7,280 at $0–30k, $9,978 at $110k+. About 68% get grants averaging $5,863, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. Federal borrowing is uncommon here at 18% 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 · 88 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 | $7,280 |
| $30–48k | $4,012 |
| $48–75k | $6,582 |
| $75–110k | $8,142 |
| $110k+ | $9,978 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 189 of these 1,040 students, totalling $1,074,428 — an average of $5,685 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Montcalm 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)