Raritan Valley
Community College
Public Community College in Branchburg, NJ. Six-year graduation rate 31%. Median 10-year earnings $48,145.
Students who entered Raritan Valley Community College land at a median of $48,145 a decade later, close to what most four-year schools deliver. Only 31% finish within six years, so roughly two in three students leave without the credential they enrolled for. Graduates leave owing a median of $10,500 — 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 0.22 — 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. 68% of full-time first-years come back for year two, so about one in three are gone before sophomore year. That gap between coming back and finishing is where this school loses people — after the first year, not during it. Transfer-out runs to 22% — common enough at this school that the completion rate is measuring a smaller group than the entering class. The part-time picture is harder: 58% return, against 68% full-time.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 5,282 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
At $7,008 a year on average after grant aid, cost is low here relative to most undergraduate institutions. The income table below is the number that matters — $5,135 at $0–30k versus $13,368 at $110k+. 43% get grants, which means the net price above will not apply to most applicants. Federal borrowing is uncommon here at 4% 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 · 1,052 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 | $5,135 |
| $30–48k | $5,283 |
| $48–75k | $7,694 |
| $75–110k | $8,995 |
| $110k+ | $13,368 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 223 of these 5,282 students, totalling $1,328,171 — an average of $5,956 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Somerset 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)