Tri-County Community College
Public Community College in Murphy, NC. Six-year graduation rate 54%. Median 10-year earnings $32,232.
Ten-year median earnings of $32,232 are on the low side, which raises the bar for what this degree needs to cost. 54% finish within six years — respectable, though a meaningful share still leave without a credential.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ! Mobility score 1.0 — limited economic uplift documented
Academics
Completion is middling: 54% finish inside six years. Retention of 76% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. Retention and completion are close, which places the gap between entering and finishing almost entirely in year one. The part-time picture is harder: 58% return, against 76% full-time. The 13:1 student-faculty ratio is small enough that seminar-sized classes are the norm.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 435 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price is $7,905 a year after grant aid — low for a four-year institution, though your own figure depends on aid eligibility. Income makes less difference than usual: $7,220 at $0–30k, $10,013 at $75–110k. 72% of students receive grant aid, averaging $9,098 — common but not automatic.
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 · 42 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 | $7,220 |
| $30–48k | $7,224 |
| $48–75k | $8,984 |
| $75–110k | $10,013 |
| $110k+ | — |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Cherokee 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)