North Central
Michigan College
Public Community College in Petoskey, MI. Six-year graduation rate 29%. Median 10-year earnings $36,594.
Students who entered North Central Michigan College reach a median of $36,594 a decade later, a figure that trails the typical four-year outcome. 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 $14,000.
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
- ! Mobility score 0.8 — limited economic uplift documented
- ! Graduation rate 29% — below national average
Academics
Completion is the problem here: 29% graduate within six years. Retention of 66% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. That gap between coming back and finishing is where this school loses people — after the first year, not during it. A 22% 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. Retention drops to 43% 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 897 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $11,807 annually, well below typical undergraduate net price. The gap between the $0–30k and $110k+ bands is narrow ($9,819 versus $15,435), meaning aid is not strongly need-weighted. Grant aid reaches 79% of students at an average of $6,992. Federal borrowing is uncommon here at 14% 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 · 218 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 | $9,819 |
| $30–48k | $7,469 |
| $48–75k | $11,658 |
| $75–110k | $12,736 |
| $110k+ | $15,435 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 124 of these 897 students, totalling $633,528 — an average of $5,109 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Emmet 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)