Piedmont Virginia
Community College
Public Community College in Charlottesville, VA. Six-year graduation rate 39%. Median 10-year earnings $40,752.
Ten-year median earnings of $40,752 are on the low side, which raises the bar for what this degree needs to cost. The six-year graduation rate is 39% — low enough that finishing cannot be treated as the default outcome. Borrowing stays contained, with median debt at graduation of $8,750.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.21 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Mobility score 1.0 — limited economic uplift documented
Academics
Only 39% finish within six years, so roughly three in five students leave without the credential. 68% of full-time first-years come back for year two, so about one in three are gone before sophomore 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. A 12% 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 3,032 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $6,710 annually, well below typical undergraduate net price. Net price varies modestly by income — $5,491 at $0–30k against $12,454 at $110k+ — so the average is a fair guide for most families. About 56% get grants averaging $4,463, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. 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 · 350 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 | $5,491 |
| $30–48k | $3,785 |
| $48–75k | $7,311 |
| $75–110k | $8,076 |
| $110k+ | $12,454 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 146 of these 3,032 students, totalling $811,220 — an average of $5,556 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Albemarle 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)