Public · Community college

Isothermal Community College

Spindale, North Carolina · Distant town

30%
Transfer rate: $10,758
Avg net price: 55%
Grad / completion: $33,325
Median earnings

Isothermal Community College is a public certificate-granting institution in Spindale, North Carolina (distant town setting), enrolling 1,169 undergraduates. Admission is open to all applicants.

PublicSmall · 1,169 undergradsDistant townCold winters

About Spindale, North Carolina

Spindale is a town in Rutherford County, North Carolina, United States. Spindale originated as a mill town from its first textile mill, Spencer Mills, in 1916, until its last textile mill, Stonecutter Mills, organized by J. B. Tanner in 1920, which closed in 1999. The town of Spindale was incorporated on August 21, 1923. (Wikipedia)

Setting: Distant town
Highest degree offered: Associate
Nearest big city: 40 miles to Asheville, NC
To the ocean: 203 miles
Nearest airport: 35 miles to Greenville-Spartanburg (GSP)

How Isothermal Community College compares

#44 · Community Colleges with the Best Transfer Rates

Graduation rate55%

Higher than 43% · #28 of 90 in North Carolina

First-year retention71%

Higher than 46%

Earnings, 10 years after entry$33,325

Higher than 44% · #45 of 84 in North Carolina

Average net price$10,758

Cheaper than 67% · #54 cheapest of 90 in North Carolina

Student–faculty ratio11 : 1

Lower than 78%

Undergraduate enrollment1,169

Larger than 75%

Percentiles compare Isothermal 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

Women68559%
Men48441%

Undergraduates by race / ethnicity

White71%
Black11%
Hispanic9.3%
Other or multiracial8.6%

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

By the numbers

Undergraduate enrollment: 1,169
Student–faculty ratio: 11 : 1
Pell Grant recipients: 34%
First-generation students: 51%
Students over 25: 26%
Median family income: $18,945
Avg faculty salary (academic year): $59,256
Endowment: $16,498,460

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

Where students come from

Home state of the 230 first-year students who entered in fall 2023.

From North Carolina100%

Most first-years stay in state — Isothermal Community College draws overwhelmingly from North Carolina.

Out-of-state students usually pay a higher tuition rate at public schools — check the cost card above for your bracket. Source: IPEDS residence & migration, fall 2023 entering class.

Cost

In-state tuition: $2,030
Out-of-state tuition: $6,638
Room & board: —
Books & supplies: $1,600
Total cost of attendance: $18,132
Average net price: $10,758

Outcomes

Graduated: 55%
First-year retention: 71%
Transferred to another college: 30%
Median earnings, 6 years after entry: $28,218
Median earnings, 10 years after entry: $33,325
Median debt at graduation: —
Students with federal loans: 0%
Paying down their loans (1 year in): 9%

Graduating on time

By student background (4 years)

All students

55%

First-generation

28%

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

Campus safety

Safety grade: A
Reported offenses per 1,000 students: 0.0 / year
Violent offenses (2022–2024): 0
Property offenses (2022–2024): 0

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

$10,108

$30–48k

$10,605

$48–75k

$11,592

$75–110k

$12,928

$110k+

$14,687

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.

43%

of first-years get a grant from the school

$1,332

average award, among those who get one

Modest institutional aid: 43% of freshmen get a grant from the school, averaging $1,332. 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 159 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): $33,325
Typical debt at graduation: —
Debt vs. one year's pay: —
Out-earn a HS grad: 36%

Weigh it value

The payoff is less clear-cut here — weigh the debt against the earnings and your intended field before borrowing heavily.

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

$29,688

Men

$38,248

Men out-earn women by $8,560 (29%) 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: 89°F
Winter low: 27°F
Annual rain: 52.1″
Annual snow: 1.2″

Average temperature

HighLow

Average precipitation (inches)

NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals, Forest City 8 W, NC US station (4.7 mi from campus).

What Isothermal Community College graduates study — and earn

Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and HumanitiesAssoc.

185 grads— 1 yr$36k 5 yr$7k debt

185—$35,676$6,625 Business Administration, Management and OperationsCert.

110 grads$24k 1 yr— 5 yr— debt

110$23,595——Precision Metal WorkingCert.

47 grads— 1 yr— 5 yr— debt

47———Cosmetology and Related Personal Grooming ServicesCert.

44 grads— 1 yr— 5 yr— debt

44———Electrical and Power Transmission InstallersCert.

35 grads— 1 yr— 5 yr— debt

35———Agricultural Production OperationsCert.

33 grads— 1 yr— 5 yr— debt

33———Health and Medical Administrative ServicesCert.

33 grads— 1 yr— 5 yr— debt

33———Criminal Justice and CorrectionsCert.

31 grads— 1 yr$28k 5 yr— debt

31—$27,540—Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and MethodsCert.

20 grads— 1 yr— 5 yr— debt

20———Electrical/Electronic Engineering Technologies/TechniciansCert.

20 grads— 1 yr— 5 yr— debt

20———Business Administration, Management and OperationsAssoc.

17 grads— 1 yr$33k 5 yr— debt

17—$33,389—Computer Engineering Technologies/TechniciansCert.

16 grads— 1 yr— 5 yr— debt

16———

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 Isothermal Community College

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

Carteret Community College

Public

Morehead City, North Carolina · Distant town · 76 mi to Wilmington

Students: 1,172
Tuition: $2k
Transfer: 14%
Earnings: $33k

Bladen Community College

Public

Dublin, North Carolina · Distant rural · 53 mi to Wilmington

Students: 1,030
Tuition: $3k
Transfer: 23%
Earnings: $31k

Montgomery Community College

Public

Troy, North Carolina · Distant rural · 49 mi to Greensboro

Students: 852
Tuition: $3k
Transfer: 0%
Earnings: $33k

Brunswick Community College

Public

Bolivia, North Carolina · Distant rural · 21 mi to Wilmington

Students: 1,211
Tuition: $3k
Transfer: 14%
Earnings: $37k

Halifax Community College

Public

Weldon, North Carolina · Fringe rural · 72 mi to Raleigh

Students: 723
Tuition: $3k
Transfer: 0%
Earnings: $32k

Southeastern Community College

Public

Whiteville, North Carolina · Distant rural · 45 mi to Myrtle Beach

Students: 820
Tuition: $3k
Transfer: 26%
Earnings: $30k

Colleges near Isothermal Community College

Gardner-Webb University

Boiling Springs, NC · Private nonprofit · Bachelor's · 1,856 students

15 mi

McDowell Technical Community College

Marion, NC · Public · Associate · 608 students

22 mi

Sherman College of Chiropractic

Boiling Springs, SC · Private nonprofit · Graduate

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University of South Carolina-Upstate

Spartanburg, SC · Public · Bachelor's · 4,038 students

24 mi

Cleveland Community College

Shelby, NC · Public · Certificate · 1,097 students

24 mi

Spartanburg Community College

Spartanburg, SC · Public · Certificate · 5,006 students

25 mi

Wofford College

Spartanburg, SC · Private nonprofit · Bachelor's · 1,816 students

26 mi

Converse University

Spartanburg, SC · Private nonprofit · Bachelor's · 1,173 students

26 mi

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.