Public · Community college

Northern Marianas College

Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands · Remote town

11%
Transfer rate
$2,789
Avg net price
41%
Grad / completion
$27,836
Median earnings

Northern Marianas College is a public associate-granting institution in Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands (remote town setting), enrolling 1,225 undergraduates. Admission is open to all applicants.

PublicSmall · 1,225 undergradsRemote townMild wintersNear the coast

About Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands

Saipan is the largest island and capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, an unincorporated territory of the United States in the western Pacific Ocean. Traces of human settlements on Saipan have been found by archaeologists ranging over 4,000 years, including petroglyphs, ancient Latte Stones, and other artifacts pointing to cultural affinities with Melanesia and with similar stone monuments in Micronesia and Palau. (Wikipedia)

Setting
Remote town
Highest degree offered
Bachelor's
To the ocean
1 mile
Nearest airport
2 miles to Saipan (SPN)

How Northern Marianas College compares

Graduation rate41%

Higher than 27%

First-year retention73%

Higher than 51%

Earnings, 10 years after entry$27,836

Higher than 26%

Average net price$2,789

Cheaper than 97%

Student–faculty ratio23 : 1

Lower than 18%

Undergraduate enrollment1,225

Larger than 75%

Percentiles compare Northern Marianas 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 Northern Mariana Islands.

Student body

Undergraduates by gender

1,225undergrads
  • Women68856%
  • Men53744%

Undergraduates by race / ethnicity

  • White0.7%
  • Hispanic1.1%
  • Asian41%
  • Other or multiracial57%

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

By the numbers

Undergraduate enrollment
1,225
Student–faculty ratio
23 : 1
Pell Grant recipients
73%
First-generation students
50%
Students over 25
19%
Median family income
$18,430
Avg faculty salary (academic year)
$44,226
Endowment
$14,800,965

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 320 first-year students who entered in fall 2023.

  • From Northern Mariana Islands99%
  • International0.9%

Most first-years stay in state — Northern Marianas College draws overwhelmingly from Northern Mariana Islands.

1% came from outside the U.S. 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
$4,038
Out-of-state tuition
$5,520
Room & board
Books & supplies
$1,600
Total cost of attendance
$10,545
Average net price
$2,789

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 (within 6 years)
41%
Graduated on time (4 years)
7%
First-year retention
73%
Transferred to another college
11%
Median earnings, 6 years after entry
$21,925
Median earnings, 10 years after entry
$27,836
Median debt at graduation
Students with federal loans
0%

About 34% of students who finish here need more than four years — each extra year adds roughly another year of tuition and living costs.

Graduating on time

By student background (4 years)

All students
7%
First-generation
18%

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
$25

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
0.0 / year
Violent offenses (2022–2024)
0
Property offenses (2022–2024)
0

On-campus criminal offenses reported under the Clery Act, 2022–2024, across 3 campuses (1,239 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.

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
$2,383
$30–48k
$1,982
$48–75k
$4,702
$75–110k
$6,429
$110k+
$4,014

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.

Four-year (or more) true cost

Net price for your family's income, projected across the time it actually takes students here to graduate.

Est. total to a degree
$24,625

$4,702/year × about 5.2 years — most students here don't finish in exactly four, and each extra term adds cost. A planning estimate from net-price and graduation-timing data, not a bill.

Does the school pay you to attend?

Northern Marianas College funds essentially no grants of its own — almost all aid here comes from federal (Pell), state, or outside sources rather than the school's own discount. Its sticker price is what it is.

Source: IPEDS Student Financial Aid, 2022–23 full-time first-year undergraduates.

Is it worth it?

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

Median earnings (10 years)
$27,836
Typical debt at graduation
Debt vs. one year's pay
Out-earn a HS grad
15%
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
$24,277
Men
$30,441

Men out-earn women by $6,164 (25%) 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
88°F
Winter low
74°F
Annual rain
69.6″

Average temperature

HighLow
70°90°100°JFMAMJJASOND

Average precipitation (inches)

0.06.513JFMAMJJASOND

NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals, Saipan Intl AP, MP CQ station (2.5 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 Northern Marianas College

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

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.