Western Nebraska
Community College
Public Community College in Scottsbluff, NE. Six-year graduation rate 37%. Median 10-year earnings $38,729.
Students who entered Western Nebraska Community College reach a median of $38,729 a decade later, a figure that trails the typical four-year outcome. The six-year graduation rate is 37% — low enough that finishing cannot be treated as the default outcome. Graduates leave owing a median of $9,000 — 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 0.23 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Academics
Completion is the problem here: 37% graduate within six years. Retention is weak: only 53% of full-time first-years return, so roughly one in two leave after one year. Retention and completion are close, which places the gap between entering and finishing almost entirely in year one. 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. Retention drops to 28% for part-time students, a gap worth weighing if full-time study is not realistic.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 948 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price is $6,334 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: $4,420 at $0–30k, $11,714 at $110k+. About 73% get grants averaging $8,208, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. Federal borrowing is uncommon here at 12% 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 · 254 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 | $4,420 |
| $30–48k | $3,808 |
| $48–75k | $7,099 |
| $75–110k | $9,904 |
| $110k+ | $11,714 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 116 of these 948 students, totalling $512,815 — an average of $4,421 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Scotts Bluff 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)