Public · Community college

Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College

Asheville, North Carolina · Small city

9%
Transfer rate
$11,602
Avg net price
40%
Grad / completion
$36,048
Median earnings

Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College is a public certificate-granting institution in Asheville, North Carolina (small city setting), enrolling 5,110 undergraduates. Admission is open to all applicants.

PublicMidsize · 5,110 undergradsSmall cityCold winters

About Asheville, North Carolina

Asheville is a city in Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. Before the arrival of the European Colonists, the land where Asheville now exists lay within the boundaries of the Cherokee Nation, which had homelands in modern western North and South Carolina, southeastern Tennessee, and northeastern Georgia. Live music is a significant element in the tourism-based economy of Asheville and the surrounding area. Seasonal festivals and numerous nightclubs and performance venues offer opportunities for visitors and locals to attend a wide variety of live entertainment events. (Wikipedia)

Setting
Small city
Highest degree offered
Associate
Nearest big city
2 miles to Asheville, NC
To the ocean
231 miles
Nearest airport
9 miles to Asheville (AVL)

How Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College compares

Graduation rate40%

Higher than 25% · #58 of 90 in North Carolina

First-year retention59%

Higher than 21%

Earnings, 10 years after entry$36,048

Higher than 52% · #20 of 84 in North Carolina

Average net price$11,602

Cheaper than 64% · #58 cheapest of 90 in North Carolina

Median debt at graduation$15,528

Lower than 13%

Student–faculty ratio13 : 1

Lower than 67%

Undergraduate enrollment5,110

Larger than 91%

Percentiles compare Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College with the nation's 3,519 two-year and certificate schools, among schools reporting each statistic. State ranks count two-year and certificate schools in North Carolina.

Student body

Undergraduates by gender

5,110undergrads
  • Women2,97958%
  • Men2,13142%

Undergraduates by race / ethnicity

  • White67%
  • Black5.3%
  • Hispanic16%
  • Asian1.7%
  • Other or multiracial10.0%

Graduate gender splits aren't published in this data, so the gender chart covers undergraduates only.

By the numbers

Undergraduate enrollment
5,110
Student–faculty ratio
13 : 1
Pell Grant recipients
36%
First-generation students
39%
Students over 25
29%
Median family income
$20,034
Avg faculty salary (academic year)
$54,288
Endowment
$7,912,625

Colleges don't publish true class-size data; student–faculty ratio (IPEDS) is the closest public measure of it.

Cost

In-state tuition
$2,882
Out-of-state tuition
$9,026
Room & board
Books & supplies
$2,000
Total cost of attendance
$16,061
Average net price
$11,602

Net price is the total cost minus grants and scholarships — what students actually pay. It varies sharply by family income; see the breakdown below.

Outcomes

Graduated
40%
First-year retention
59%
Transferred to another college
9%
Median earnings, 6 years after entry
$32,630
Median earnings, 10 years after entry
$36,048
Median debt at graduation
$15,528
Students with federal loans
3%
Paying down their loans (1 year in)
29%

Graduating on time

By student background (4 years)

All students
40%
Low-income (Pell)
27%
First-generation
27%

When these bars run close together, students from every background tend to finish at similar rates — a sign the school supports the ~30% who are first-gen or low-income.

Campus life & athletics

On-campus housing
No
Application fee
Free

Housing and fees: IPEDS 2023–24. Athletics rosters: Equity in Athletics data, 2024–25. Dorm capacity can include graduate and family housing, so the share of undergrads can top 100%.

Campus safety

Safety grade
A
Reported offenses per 1,000 students
0.1 / year
Violent offenses (2022–2024)
2
Property offenses (2022–2024)
0

On-campus criminal offenses reported under the Clery Act, 2022–2024, across 4 campuses (6,510 students). Counts reflect reports, not convictions — schools with strong reporting cultures often show more, so a higher count doesn't simply mean a more dangerous campus.

Reported offenses in an average year

The same 2022–2024 Clery Act reports, divided down to one year.

0.7reported offenses a year
0.7 violent a year0 property a year

By offense type, per year

Aggravated assault
0.7

Averages, not a forecast — a single year can run well above or below this. Bars are scaled against this campus's most-reported offense, so they compare types here rather than against other schools.

What you'll actually pay, by family income

Average net price (total cost minus grants and scholarships) paid by aided students in each family-income band.

< $30k
$11,491
$30–48k
$11,720
$48–75k
$11,862
$75–110k
$11,877
$110k+
$12,786

College Scorecard / IPEDS, most recent year. Family income is total household income; net price covers tuition, fees, room, board and supplies after grant aid, for students receiving federal aid.

Does the school pay you to attend?

Grant aid from the school's own funds — the discount off sticker, on top of any federal or state help.

4%
of first-years get a grant from the school
$1,422
average award, among those who get one

Modest institutional aid: 4% of freshmen get a grant from the school, averaging $1,422. Most of what lowers the price here is federal or state money, not the school's own funds.

Blends need-based and merit aid — IPEDS doesn't split the two, so a high number can mean generous merit scholarships, deep need-based aid, or both. Figures cover 380 full-time first-year undergraduates, 2022–23. Source: IPEDS Student Financial Aid.

Is it worth it?

A rough return-on-investment read from what graduates earn versus what they borrow.

Median earnings (10 years)
$36,048
Typical debt at graduation
$15,528
Debt vs. one year's pay
43%
Out-earn a HS grad
42%

Typical debt would take roughly 4.3 years to repay at about a tenth of median earnings.

Solid value

A reasonable return: earnings comfortably clear the debt over a few years for most students who finish.

Earnings are the College Scorecard median for former students (working, not enrolled) 10 years after entry — not a guarantee, and they vary a lot by major. Debt is the median federal loan balance at graduation.

The pay gap here

Median earnings 10 years after entry, split by gender.

Women
$33,882
Men
$40,383

Men out-earn women by $6,501 (19%) a decade out.

Federal figures for former students working and not enrolled, 10 years after they first entered. A gap this wide usually reflects which majors men and women here tend to choose — not different pay for the same job.

Campus climate

Summer high
86°F
Winter low
29°F
Annual rain
40.6″
Annual snow
11.5″

Average temperature

HighLow
20°60°90°JFMAMJJASOND

Average precipitation (inches)

0.02.04.1JFMAMJJASOND

NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals, Asheville, NC US station (1.7 mi from campus).

Median earnings of this school's own graduates 1 and 5 years after finishing each program, and median federal-loan debt at completion (College Scorecard). Small programs are privacy-suppressed (—). Click a major to compare colleges nationally.

Colleges similar to Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College

Schools with a comparable profile — size, selectivity, cost, and graduate outcomes. Compare Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College side by side →

Colleges near Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College

Source: US Department of Education College Scorecard (most recent cohorts), IPEDS institutional characteristics, Equity in Athletics (EADA) data, Clery Act Campus Safety and Security data, and NOAA US Climate Normals. Distances are straight-line from campus coordinates. Percentiles compare schools of the same level (four-year vs. two-year) that report each statistic.