Potomac State
College of West Virginia University
Public Community College in Keyser, WV. Six-year graduation rate 31%. Median 10-year earnings $55,939.
Students who entered Potomac State College of West Virginia University land at a median of $55,939 a decade later, close to what most four-year schools deliver. The six-year graduation rate is 31% — low enough that finishing cannot be treated as the default outcome. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $22,500, neither a bargain nor a burden.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ 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. 58% first-year retention is low enough to be the defining risk of enrolling here. That gap between coming back and finishing is where this school loses people — after the first year, not during it. Transfer-out runs to 28% — common enough at this school that the completion rate is measuring a smaller group than the entering class. At 13:1, 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 949 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
At $9,541 a year on average after grant aid, cost is low here relative to most undergraduate institutions. Net price varies modestly by income — $7,375 at $0–30k against $12,945 at $110k+ — so the average is a fair guide for most families. 83% of students receive grant aid, averaging $7,017 — common but not automatic. Federal borrowing reaches 36% of students.
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 · 381 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 | $7,375 |
| $30–48k | $7,807 |
| $48–75k | $10,500 |
| $75–110k | $12,833 |
| $110k+ | $12,945 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 341 of these 949 students, totalling $1,906,988 — an average of $5,592 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Mineral County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026