Muskegon Community College
Public Community College in Muskegon, MI. Six-year graduation rate 28%. Median 10-year earnings $36,549.
Median earnings ten years after entry come to $36,549, below what most undergraduate institutions return — the central fact to weigh against cost here. Only 29% finish within six years, so roughly three in four students leave without the credential they enrolled for. Borrowing stays contained, with median debt at graduation of $9,125.
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 0.4% — below national benchmark
- ! Mobility score 0.8 — limited economic uplift documented
- ! Graduation rate 28% — below national average
Academics
Only 29% finish within six years, so roughly three in four students leave without the credential. 69% of full-time first-years come back for year two, so about one in three are gone before sophomore year. Retention runs well ahead of completion, which means students are not leaving immediately; they are leaving somewhere between the second year and the finish line. 22% transfer out. IPEDS does not follow them, so whether they finished elsewhere is not recorded either way. Retention drops to 34% 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 2,781 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price is $5,938 a year after grant aid — low for a four-year institution, though your own figure depends on aid eligibility. The gap between the $0–30k and $110k+ bands is narrow ($3,708 versus $9,933), meaning aid is not strongly need-weighted. 69% of students receive grant aid, averaging $5,589 — common but not automatic. Federal borrowing is uncommon here at 7% 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 · 491 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 | $3,708 |
| $30–48k | $1,441 |
| $48–75k | $5,178 |
| $75–110k | $7,725 |
| $110k+ | $9,933 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 199 of these 2,781 students, totalling $895,987 — an average of $4,502 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Muskegon 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)