UCNJ Union College of Union County,
New Jersey
Public Community College in Cranford, NJ. Six-year graduation rate 35%. Median 10-year earnings $41,595.
Ten-year median earnings of $41,595 are on the low side, which raises the bar for what this degree needs to cost. The six-year graduation rate is 35% — low enough that finishing cannot be treated as the default outcome. Borrowing stays contained, with median debt at graduation of $15,091. On economic mobility, 2.6% of students travel from the bottom income quintile to the top.
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
Academics
Completion is the problem here: 35% graduate within six years. First-year retention is 66% — the single largest point of attrition on this campus. That gap between coming back and finishing is where this school loses people — after the first year, not during it. A 22:1 ratio is unremarkable; expect a mix of lecture halls and seminars. As a public community college, the relevant comparison is other two-year schools rather than the national average across all institutions.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 7,760 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $6,798 annually, well below typical undergraduate net price. Income makes less difference than usual: $6,880 at $0–30k, $11,965 at $110k+. About 61% get grants averaging $5,840, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. 7% borrow federally — a low rate, though it covers federal loans only.
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 · 1,270 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 | $6,880 |
| $30–48k | $7,213 |
| $48–75k | $9,362 |
| $75–110k | $11,407 |
| $110k+ | $11,965 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 531 of these 7,760 students, totalling $3,131,072 — an average of $5,897 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Union 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)