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Community college · Public

Bellingham Technical College

Bellingham, WA396 online only

Bellingham Technical College is a public community college in Bellingham, WA, with about 1,454 students on campus.

Visit www.btc.edu ↗Directions
Students on campus
1,454
plus 396 studying only online
Admission rate
Open
open enrollment
Net price a year
$5,997
tuition and fees $4,431; the net price adds housing and food
Graduation rate
42%
Earnings, 10 yrs later
$49,748
higher than at 71% of U.S. colleges
Getting in

How hard is it to get into Bellingham Technical College?

Open

anyone with a high school diploma can enroll

Test scores of admitted students

No SAT or ACT ranges reported. Bellingham Technical College is likely test-optional.

What it costs

The sticker price, and what families really pay

Sticker price: $16,104 a year

Before any grants · out-of-state tuition $5,809

Tuition & fees (in state) $4,431Books & supplies $528Other costs $11,145

After grants, the average family on aid pays $5,997.

Tuition and fees are $4,431 a year. The net price also counts housing, food and other costs at full price, so a student living at home pays less than it shows.

Your family’s price

Average net price after grants, by family income

$6,510

About $13,020 over 2 years · 60% off the sticker price

Under $30k$30–48k$48–75k$75–110kOver $110k
Outcomes

Do students finish, and does it pay off?

Graduate
42%
within 1½ times the normal program length
Come back for year two
—
full-time first-year students
Earnings, 10 years later
$49,748
median, students on federal aid
Typical debt
$17,459
about $185 a month over 10 years

Debt vs. the paycheck

The typical loan payment as a share of a typical graduate’s monthly pay six years after starting

5.1%
0%10%: a common comfort line25%

$185 a month against about $3,603 a month in pay.

Paying back loans

Federal student loans, this college

46%

of borrowers paid down at least some of their loan within three years, more than at 51% of U.S. colleges.

Almost none defaulted within three years (payments on federal loans were paused from 2020 to 2023, so recent default rates are near zero everywhere).

Earnings by family background

Median earnings 10 years after starting, by family income at enrollment

Lower incomeunder $30k
$45k
Middle income$30–75k
$60k
Higher incomeover $75k
$60k
Majors

What students study, and what it pays

Share of degrees by field

Health professions 31%Mechanic & repair 13%Engineering tech 11%Precision production 10%Business 10%Computer science 8%Everything else 17%

Bachelor’s programs with the most graduates

And their graduates’ median earnings four years later (one year where that’s all that’s reported).

Engineering Technologies/Technicians, General7 graduates a year
—not reported
Business Administration, Management and Operations7 graduates a year
—not reported
Who goes there

The students

1,733 degree-seeking undergraduates.

By race and ethnicity

White 55%Hispanic 18%Black 1%Asian 5%Two or more 7%

Women and men

Women 55%Men 45%
24 : 1
students per teacher
31%
get Pell grants (lower income)
8%
take federal loans
50%
undergrads 25 or older
34%
study part time
The town around it

Living in Bellingham

17% of Bellingham’s 96,395 residents are enrolled in college. What the town is like, from TownRatings’ Bellingham pages.

Bellingham →
BellinghamBellingham, WA
$1,577/momedian rent · 10% below the state$658Ktypical home valueDSafety Grade35° / 73°January low / July high · 3" of snowA−Health GradeAll colleges in and near BellinghamCompare prices, admissions and outcomes
Nearby

Other colleges within 30 miles

Straight-line distances from Bellingham Technical College; colleges with 100 or more students on campus.

Whatcom Community CollegeCommunity college · Public · Bellingham
2.1 mi2,256 students
Western Washington UniversityUniversity or college · Public · Bellingham
2.3 mi14,432 students
Northwest Indian CollegeUniversity or college · Public · Bellingham
5.1 mi404 students
Skagit Valley CollegeCommunity college · Public · Mount Vernon
24.6 mi2,953 students

Ask around

Students, parents, alumni and the neighbors next door.

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Start the conversation

Sources: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (institution and field-of-study files) and IPEDS (Scorecard 06/10/2026 · IPEDS 2024 · fall 2023); town figures from the Census American Community Survey and NOAA climate normals. Graduation rates count first-time, full-time students; earnings and debt are for students who received federal aid. Distances are straight-line. Colleges are described, not graded (how TownRatings describes colleges). Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.