Rowan-Cabarrus Community College
Public Community College in Salisbury, NC. Six-year graduation rate 35%. Median 10-year earnings $34,936.
Students who entered Rowan-Cabarrus Community College reach a median of $34,936 a decade later, a figure that trails the typical four-year outcome. Completion is the weak point: 35% graduate within six years. Median debt at graduation is $9,458, 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
- ! Mobility score 0.8 — limited economic uplift documented
Academics
Only 35% finish within six years, so roughly two in three students leave without the credential. First-year retention is 60% — the single largest point of attrition on this campus. Retention and completion are close, which places the gap between entering and finishing almost entirely in year one. 16% transfer out. IPEDS does not follow them, so whether they finished elsewhere is not recorded either way. A 15:1 ratio points to small classes and accessible faculty.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 4,073 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $9,548 annually, well below typical undergraduate net price. Net price varies modestly by income — $6,580 at $0–30k against $13,074 at $75–110k — so the average is a fair guide for most families. Grant aid reaches 65% of students at an average of $7,479.
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 · 422 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 | $6,580 |
| $30–48k | $7,494 |
| $48–75k | $8,903 |
| $75–110k | $13,074 |
| $110k+ | — |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Rowan 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)