Stark State College
Public Community College in North Canton, OH. Six-year graduation rate 23%. Median 10-year earnings $34,661.
Ten-year median earnings of $34,661 are on the low side, which raises the bar for what this degree needs to cost. The six-year graduation rate is 23% — low enough that finishing cannot be treated as the default outcome. Median debt at graduation is $13,786, 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.
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Mobility score 0.9 — limited economic uplift documented
- ! Graduation rate 23% — below national average
Academics
Only 23% finish within six years, so roughly three in four students leave without the credential. Just 50% of first-years come back — most of the completion gap opens in year one. That gap between coming back and finishing is where this school loses people — after the first year, not during it. Transfer-out runs to 18% — common enough at this school that the completion rate is measuring a smaller group than the entering class. Retention drops to 39% for part-time students, a gap worth weighing if full-time study is not realistic.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 5,806 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $7,160 annually, well below typical undergraduate net price. The gap between the $0–30k and $110k+ bands is narrow ($5,916 versus $10,755), meaning aid is not strongly need-weighted. About 77% get grants averaging $3,452, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. 40% of students take federal loans, a middling borrowing rate.
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 · 724 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 | $5,916 |
| $30–48k | $7,268 |
| $48–75k | $6,985 |
| $75–110k | $11,165 |
| $110k+ | $10,755 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 2,325 of these 5,806 students, totalling $12,493,817 — an average of $5,374 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Stark 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)