NorthWest Arkansas
Community College
Public Community College in Bentonville, AR. Six-year graduation rate 31%. Median 10-year earnings $43,505.
The median ten-year earnings figure of $43,505 sits near the national middle rather than at either extreme. Completion is the weak point: 31% graduate within six years. Median debt at graduation is $9,506, a light load against those earnings.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.22 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Graduation rate 31% — below national average
Academics
A six-year graduation rate of 31% means finishing is closer to the exception than the rule. Retention of 62% 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. 16% transfer out. IPEDS does not follow them, so whether they finished elsewhere is not recorded either way. Part-time students fare worse, returning at 40% — relevant if you plan to work while enrolled.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 5,087 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $7,329 annually, well below typical undergraduate net price. Income makes less difference than usual: $5,722 at $0–30k, $11,719 at $110k+. Only 43% of students receive grant aid, so most families are paying near the published price. Only 17% take federal loans. Private borrowing is not captured in this figure.
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 · 731 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 | $5,722 |
| $30–48k | $5,751 |
| $48–75k | $8,300 |
| $75–110k | $10,231 |
| $110k+ | $11,719 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 890 of these 5,087 students, totalling $5,241,834 — an average of $5,890 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Benton 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)