Ridgewater College
Public Community College in Willmar, MN. Six-year graduation rate 50%. Median 10-year earnings $43,827.
Students who entered Ridgewater College land at a median of $43,827 a decade later, close to what most four-year schools deliver. The six-year graduation rate is 50%, meaning about one in two students who start do not finish. Median debt at graduation is $12,000, a light load against those earnings.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.27 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Academics
Completion is middling: 50% finish inside six years. 70% of full-time first-years come back for year two, so about one in three are gone before sophomore year. Retention and completion are close, which places the gap between entering and finishing almost entirely in year one. 14% transfer out. IPEDS does not follow them, so whether they finished elsewhere is not recorded either way. Part-time students fare worse, returning at 48% — relevant if you plan to work while enrolled.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 2,048 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
At $9,448 a year on average after grant aid, cost is low here relative to most undergraduate institutions. Income makes less difference than usual: $7,963 at $0–30k, $15,103 at $110k+. About 67% get grants averaging $5,423, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. Federal borrowing reaches 35% 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 · 382 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 | $7,963 |
| $30–48k | $6,891 |
| $48–75k | $9,176 |
| $75–110k | $13,111 |
| $110k+ | $15,103 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 721 of these 2,048 students, totalling $4,419,808 — an average of $6,130 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Kandiyohi 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)