Mount Wachusett
Community College
Public Community College in Gardner, MA. Six-year graduation rate 24%. Median 10-year earnings $41,118.
Ten-year median earnings of $41,118 are on the low side, which raises the bar for what this degree needs to cost. The six-year graduation rate is 24% — low enough that finishing cannot be treated as the default outcome. Borrowing stays contained, with median debt at graduation of $10,252.
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
- ! Graduation rate 24% — below national average
Academics
A six-year graduation rate of 24% means finishing is closer to the exception than the rule. 63% of full-time first-years come back for year two, so about two in five 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. Transfer-out runs to 15% — common enough at this school that the completion rate is measuring a smaller group than the entering class.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 2,554 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price is $7,592 a year after grant aid — low for a four-year institution, though your own figure depends on aid eligibility. The income table below is the number that matters — $5,899 at $0–30k versus $14,528 at $110k+. Grant aid reaches 70% of students at an average of $6,450. Federal borrowing is uncommon here at 21% 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 · 274 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 | $5,899 |
| $30–48k | $5,873 |
| $48–75k | $6,711 |
| $75–110k | $9,850 |
| $110k+ | $14,528 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 542 of these 2,554 students, totalling $2,581,264 — an average of $4,762 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Worcester 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)