North Shore
Community College
Public Community College in Danvers, MA. Six-year graduation rate 18%. Median 10-year earnings $45,391.
Ten years after entry, the median North Shore Community College student earns $45,391 — a solidly middle-of-the-pack result for an undergraduate institution. Only 18% finish within six years, so roughly four in five students leave without the credential they enrolled for. Graduates leave owing a median of $9,000 — modest by four-year standards.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.20 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Graduation rate 18% — below national average
Academics
A six-year graduation rate of 18% means finishing is closer to the exception than the rule. First-year retention is 61% — the single largest point of attrition on this campus. 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. A 17% 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.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 3,693 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
At $9,875 a year on average after grant aid, cost is low here relative to most undergraduate institutions. Net price varies modestly by income — $8,622 at $0–30k against $13,158 at $110k+ — so the average is a fair guide for most families. 59% of students receive grant aid, averaging $4,946 — common but not automatic. 14% borrow federally — a low rate, though it covers federal loans only.
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 · 442 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 | $8,622 |
| $30–48k | $7,550 |
| $48–75k | $8,987 |
| $75–110k | $9,966 |
| $110k+ | $13,158 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 504 of these 3,693 students, totalling $2,286,365 — an average of $4,536 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Essex 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)