Western Piedmont
Community College
Public Community College in Morganton, NC. Six-year graduation rate 49%. Median 10-year earnings $34,195.
Students who entered Western Piedmont Community College reach a median of $34,195 a decade later, a figure that trails the typical four-year outcome. The six-year graduation rate is 49%, meaning about one in two students who start do not finish.
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
- ! Mobility score 0.7 — limited economic uplift documented
Academics
49% graduate within six years — average, but that average still hides a large group who do not. 75% of full-time first-years come back for year two, so about one in four are gone before sophomore year. That gap between coming back and finishing is where this school loses people — after the first year, not during it. 23% transfer out. IPEDS does not follow them, so whether they finished elsewhere is not recorded either way. Part-time students fare worse, returning at 57% — relevant if you plan to work while enrolled.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,332 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price is $6,448 a year after grant aid — low for a four-year institution, though your own figure depends on aid eligibility. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $4,471 while those at $75–110k pay $13,421. 69% of students receive grant aid, averaging $8,874 — 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 · 113 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 | $4,471 |
| $30–48k | $6,147 |
| $48–75k | $7,386 |
| $75–110k | $13,421 |
| $110k+ | — |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Burke 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)