Northwest Indian College
Public College in Bellingham, WA. Six-year graduation rate 22%. Median 10-year earnings $35,447.
Ten-year median earnings of $35,447 are on the low side, which raises the bar for what this degree needs to cost. Only 22% finish within six years, so roughly four in five students leave without the credential they enrolled for.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ! Graduation rate 22% — below national average
Academics
Only 22% finish within six years, so roughly four in five students leave without the credential. Retention is weak: only 55% of full-time first-years return, so roughly two in five leave after one year. 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. 30% of students transfer out, which reframes what the graduation rate above is measuring. At 14:1, students get materially more instructor contact than at a typical public university.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 632 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price is $4,048 a year after grant aid — low for a four-year institution, though your own figure depends on aid eligibility. Net price varies modestly by income — $2,630 at $0–30k against $8,610 at $75–110k — so the average is a fair guide for most families. About 81% get grants averaging $9,420, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price.
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 · 77 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 | $2,630 |
| $30–48k | $2,952 |
| $48–75k | $3,709 |
| $75–110k | $8,610 |
| $110k+ | — |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Whatcom County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
Heightened Cash Monitoring, Heightened Cash Monitoring (Compliance Audit Late or Missing); Heightened Cash Monitoring; School placed on Heightened Cash Monitoring
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)