West Virginia
Northern Community College
Public Community College in Wheeling, WV. Six-year graduation rate 33%. Median 10-year earnings $30,162.
Median earnings ten years after entry come to $30,162, below what most undergraduate institutions return — the central fact to weigh against cost here. Completion is the weak point: 33% graduate within six years. Graduates leave owing a median of $10,245 — 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 0.34 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Graduation rate 33% — below national average
Academics
A six-year graduation rate of 33% means finishing is closer to the exception than the rule. First-year retention is 61% — the single largest point of attrition on this campus. The distance between those two figures is the part worth noticing — students return for a second year at a much higher rate than they graduate, so attrition here is spread across the middle years rather than concentrated in the first. A 13% transfer-out rate accounts for part of that gap: those students left for another institution rather than dropping out, and the graduation rate above counts them as non-completers here. At 11:1, students get materially more instructor contact than at a typical public university.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 785 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price is $5,560 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 $3,911 at the $0–30k band to $12,332 at $110k+. 75% of students receive grant aid, averaging $7,324 — common but not automatic. Federal borrowing is uncommon here at 15% of students.
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 · 214 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 | $3,911 |
| $30–48k | $3,946 |
| $48–75k | $6,627 |
| $75–110k | $9,201 |
| $110k+ | $12,332 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 118 of these 785 students, totalling $628,607 — an average of $5,327 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Ohio 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)