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Community colleges in New Hampshire

There are 7 two-year, predominantly associate-degree-granting community colleges in New Hampshire reporting to the U.S. Department of Education. Median published in-state tuition across the state is $7,140 per academic year — among the most affordable postsecondary options anywhere in the country.

This page is a working directory: every institution links to a full profile with cost, enrollment, completion, and transfer numbers. The lists below highlight the most affordable, the largest, and the most transfer-active campuses in New Hampshire, drawn from the same Department of Education data four-year admissions offices use to evaluate incoming transfer applicants. If you are weighing a community-college start before continuing to a four-year program, the transfer rate column is the single most useful comparison.

Most affordable in-state tuition in New Hampshire

  1. Lakes Region Community CollegeLaconia$6,720
  2. River Valley Community CollegeClaremont$6,940
  3. Manchester Community CollegeManchester$7,090
  4. Nashua Community CollegeNashua$7,140
  5. Great Bay Community CollegePortsmouth$7,200

Full New Hampshire cost ranking → Tuition reference →

Largest community colleges in New Hampshire

  1. NHTI-Concord's Community CollegeConcord2,154
  2. Manchester Community CollegeManchester1,587
  3. Great Bay Community CollegePortsmouth1,259
  4. Nashua Community CollegeNashua1,135
  5. River Valley Community CollegeClaremont608

Full enrollment ranking →

Strongest transfer outcomes

Share of full-time entrants who transferred to another institution within 150% of program length.

  1. River Valley Community CollegeClaremont34%
  2. Great Bay Community CollegePortsmouth23%
  3. NHTI-Concord's Community CollegeConcord22%
  4. Nashua Community CollegeNashua21%
  5. Lakes Region Community CollegeLaconia16%

New Hampshire transfer guide →

All 7 community colleges in New Hampshire

InstitutionCityEnrollmentIn-state tuition
Great Bay Community CollegePortsmouth1,259$7,200
Lakes Region Community CollegeLaconia482$6,720
Manchester Community CollegeManchester1,587$7,090
Nashua Community CollegeNashua1,135$7,140
NHTI-Concord's Community CollegeConcord2,154$7,200
River Valley Community CollegeClaremont608$6,940
St Joseph School of NursingNashua93$23,438

About community college in New Hampshire

New Hampshire's 7 community colleges serve as the primary on-ramp into postsecondary education for hundreds of thousands of residents each year. They award associate degrees, occupational certificates, and — through articulation agreements with public and private four-year institutions — transferable general-education credit. For most students, the financial argument is decisive: published in-state tuition averages a small fraction of state-flagship sticker price, and many community-college students qualify for the full federal Pell Grant, eliminating tuition entirely.

If you intend to transfer, the most important question to ask any New Hampshire community college is which four-year institutions accept its credit on a course-for-course basis. The state's strongest transfer pipelines tend to feed regional public universities, but well-prepared students from accredited community colleges in New Hampshire routinely transfer into selective private institutions as well. Use the transfer-rate column above as a starting filter, then consult the receiving university's transfer admissions office to confirm specific course equivalencies.

Career-focused students should pay attention to the local labor market as much as to the institution. New Hampshire's community colleges concentrate heavily in health-care occupations, mechanical and engineering technology, business administration, and skilled-trades programs aligned to regional employers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics' state-level wage data is the right reference for setting expectations on starting salary by field. Where this site reports earnings, the figure is median earnings ten years after first enrollment, drawn from the College Scorecard's match against federal tax records.