Wayne Community College
Public Community College in Goldsboro, NC. Six-year graduation rate 49%. Median 10-year earnings $34,148.
Ten-year median earnings of $34,148 are on the low side, which raises the bar for what this degree needs to cost. Six-year completion sits at 49%, near the national average for undergraduate institutions. Graduates leave owing a median of $6,500 — modest by four-year standards.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.19 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Mobility score 0.9 — limited economic uplift documented
Academics
Six-year completion sits at 49%, meaning about one in two students who enroll leave without finishing. 67% of full-time first-years come back for year two, so about one in three are gone before sophomore year. Retention and completion are close, which places the gap between entering and finishing almost entirely in year one. Transfer-out runs to 15% — common enough at this school that the completion rate is measuring a smaller group than the entering class. A 12:1 ratio points to small classes and accessible faculty.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,998 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
At $2,215 a year on average after grant aid, cost is low here relative to most undergraduate institutions. Income makes less difference than usual: $1,371 at $0–30k, $7,179 at $110k+. Grant aid reaches 68% of students at an average of $2,578.
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 · 194 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 | $1,371 |
| $30–48k | $2,169 |
| $48–75k | $3,271 |
| $75–110k | $4,601 |
| $110k+ | $7,179 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Wayne 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)