Tompkins Cortland
Community College
Public Community College in Dryden, NY. Six-year graduation rate 26%. Median 10-year earnings $40,707.
Ten-year median earnings of $40,707 are on the low side, which raises the bar for what this degree needs to cost. Only 26% finish within six years, so roughly three in four students leave without the credential they enrolled for. Median debt at graduation is $15,750, 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
- ! Graduation rate 26% — below national average
Academics
A six-year graduation rate of 26% means finishing is closer to the exception than the rule. Just 50% of first-years come back — most of the completion gap opens in year one. The two rates sit near each other: few students who return for a second year are missing from the six-year completion figure. 18% transfer out. IPEDS does not follow them, so whether they finished elsewhere is not recorded either way. The part-time picture is harder: 38% return, against 50% full-time.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,456 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price is $12,465 a year after grant aid — low for a four-year institution, though your own figure depends on aid eligibility. Net price swings hard on family income here, from $9,861 at the $0–30k band to $19,857 at $110k+. About 71% get grants averaging $6,232, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. 43% 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 · 405 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 | $9,861 |
| $30–48k | $11,117 |
| $48–75k | $14,629 |
| $75–110k | $16,591 |
| $110k+ | $19,857 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 628 of these 1,456 students, totalling $3,965,230 — an average of $6,314 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Tompkins 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)