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Catawba Valley Community College Data & Information Overview

3 awards Ranking Badges
Fair Price Value for Your Money
15% Student Loan Default Rate

Find out more about how Catawba Valley Community College ranks, how diverse it is, what majors it offers, and other essential facts below.

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* Rankings

Where Does Catawba Valley Community College Rank?

#1,509 Best Colleges in Nation
#28 Best Colleges in NC
Catawba Valley Community College ranking badge

2026 Rankings

College Factual analyzes over 2,000 colleges and universities in its annual rankings and ranks them in a variety of ways, including most diverse, best overall quality, best for non-traditional students, and much more.

Catawba Valley Community College was awarded 3 badges in the 2026 rankings.

Overall Ranking

According to College Factual’s 2026 analysis, CVCC is ranked #1,509 out of 3,449 schools in the nation that were analyzed for overall quality.

Within the state, CVCC holds the #28 spot on the Best Colleges in North Carolina ranking.

See all of the rankings for Catawba Valley Community College.

How Difficult Is Admission to Catawba Valley Community College?

Admission Selectivity

Learn more about Catawba Valley Community College admissions.

Instructors at Catawba Valley Community College

10 to 1 Student to Faculty
22% Full Time Teachers

Class Sizes

The student to faculty ratio at CVCC is an impressive 10 to 1. That’s quite good when you compare it to the national average of 15 to 1. This is a good sign that students at the school will have more opportunities for one-on-one interactions with their professors.

Percent of Full-Time Faculty

When estimating how much access students will have to their teachers, some people like to look at what percentage of faculty members are full time. This is because part-time teachers may not have as much time to spend on campus as their full-time counterparts.

The full-time faculty percentage at Catawba Valley Community College is 22%. This is lower than the national average of 47%.

Full-Time Faculty Percent  22 out of 100
0
100

Academic Performance at Catawba Valley Community College

69% Freshmen Retention
36% On-Time Graduation Rate

Freshmen Retention Rate

The freshmen retention rate tells us what percentage of first-year, full-time students choose to continue on to their sophomore year at a particular school. The rate at Catawba Valley Community College is 69%, which is about average when compared to the national rate of 68%.

Freshmen Retention Rate  69 out of 100
0
100

Academic Completion

The on-time graduation rate is the percent of first-time, full-time students who get their bachelor’s degree within four years. At CVCC this rate is 36%, which is about average when compared to the national rate of 33.3%.

On-Time Graduation Rate  36 out of 100
0
100

Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at Catawba Valley Community College.

Diversity Profile of Catawba Valley Community College

3,517 Undergraduate Students
35.7% Racial-Ethnic Minorities*
56.4% Percent Women

In the current academic year, there are 3,517 undergraduates at CVCC.

Get more detailed information on the diversity at Catawba Valley Community College.

How Much Does Catawba Valley Community College Cost?

$16,772 Net Price

The overall average net price of CVCC is $16,772. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group. The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid. Note that the net price is typically less than the published price for a school. For more information on the sticker price of CVCC, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.

How Much Money Do Catawba Valley Community C Graduates Make?

$36,977 Avg Salary of Grads
Low Earnings Boost

Yearly salaries vary depending on what you major in, but on average, bachelor’s degree recipients from Catawba Valley Community College make around $36,977 per year during the early years of their employment. Unfortunately, this is 25% less than the average college graduate’s salary of $49,219 per year. However, graduates in your major field may make more.

See which majors at Catawba Valley Community College make the most money.

Location of Catawba Valley Community College

North Carolina State
3,517 Undergraduate Students
Small City Campus Setting

Catawba Valley Community College is an public institution situated in Hickory, North Carolina. The surrounding area of the school is a good match for students who enjoy city life. Get more details about the location of Catawba Valley Community College.

Location of Catawba Valley Community College

Get in touch with Catawba Valley Community College are given below.

Contact Details
Address: 2550 Hwy 70 SE, Hickory, NC 28602-0699
Phone: 8283277000
Website: www.cvcc.edu

Catawba Valley Community College Academic Programs

18 Majors With Completions
2,448 Undergraduate Degrees

During the most recent year for which we have data, students from 18 majors graduated from Catawba Valley Community College. The following table lists the most popular undergraduate majors along with the average salary graduates from those majors make.

Most Popular Majors Completions Average Salary of Graduates
Multi-Disciplinary Studies 1,224 NA
Liberal Arts General Studies 458 $25,381
Precision Metal Working 126 NA
Business Administration & Management 99 $32,107
Nursing 66 NA
Electrical & Power Installation 64 NA
Health/Medical Admin Services 51 $20,861
Vehicle Maintenance & Repair 45 NA
Computer Information Systems 40 NA
Electromechanical Engineering 34 NA

Learn more about the majors offered at Catawba Valley Community College along with which ones have the highest average starting salaries.

Online Study Options at CVCC

125% Take At Least One Class Online
88% Take All Classes Online

Online learning options are becoming more and more popular at American colleges and universities. Online classes are great for students who have busy schedules or for those who just want to study on their own time.

4,393 students took at least one online class at Catawba Valley Community College.

Learn more about online learning at Catawba Valley Community College.

Comparable CollegesCurious how schools stack up against CVCC? Match them up using College Combat, our free interactive tool that lets you compare colleges on the features that matter most to you.

Notes and References

Footnotes

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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