Northern New
Mexico College
Public Community College in Espanola, NM. Six-year graduation rate 35%. Median 10-year earnings $38,112.
Median earnings ten years after entry come to $38,112, below what most undergraduate institutions return — the central fact to weigh against cost here. Only 36% finish within six years, so roughly two in three students leave without the credential they enrolled for. Borrowing stays contained, with median debt at graduation of $6,000.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.16 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Academics
Only 36% finish within six years, so roughly two in three students leave without the credential. Just 52% of first-years come back — most of the completion gap opens in year one. Retention and completion are close, which places the gap between entering and finishing almost entirely in year one. Transfer-out runs to 18% — common enough at this school that the completion rate is measuring a smaller group than the entering class. The part-time picture is harder: 30% return, against 52% full-time.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 864 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
At $8,837 a year on average after grant aid, cost is low here relative to most undergraduate institutions. The gap between the $0–30k and $75–110k bands is narrow ($7,187 versus $8,097), meaning aid is not strongly need-weighted. Most students get help: 86% receive grants worth $8,140 on average. 5% 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 · 108 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 | $7,187 |
| $30–48k | $7,539 |
| $48–75k | $6,811 |
| $75–110k | $8,097 |
| $110k+ | — |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 45 of these 864 students, totalling $308,010 — an average of $6,845 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Rio Arriba 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)