Pennsylvania Highlands
Community College
Public Community College in Johnstown, PA. Six-year graduation rate 38%. Median 10-year earnings $38,752.
Ten-year median earnings of $38,752 are on the low side, which raises the bar for what this degree needs to cost. The six-year graduation rate is 38% — low enough that finishing cannot be treated as the default outcome. Graduates leave owing a median of $11,000 — 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 0.28 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Academics
Completion is the problem here: 38% graduate within six years. Just 59% 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. 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. The student-faculty ratio is 16:1 — typical, which in practice means large lectures early and smaller classes in the major.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 719 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price is $5,519 a year after grant aid — low for a four-year institution, though your own figure depends on aid eligibility. The income table below is the number that matters — $2,945 at $0–30k versus $12,042 at $110k+. About 73% get grants averaging $6,489, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. About 42% borrow federally, roughly the national pattern.
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 · 162 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 | $2,945 |
| $30–48k | $5,079 |
| $48–75k | $6,693 |
| $75–110k | $9,715 |
| $110k+ | $12,042 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 301 of these 719 students, totalling $1,614,592 — an average of $5,364 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Cambria 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)