In a survey of the Northampton Community College Class of 2005, alumni report being well-prepared for employment or transfer to other colleges and consider Northampton to be an essential community resource. At the time of the survey, 94% of respondents were employed or continuing their education. Of those who continued their education, 97% said NCC prepared them adequately or better for further study.

Northampton’s education is the same or better than that of other colleges, according to 98% of those surveyed, and 55% said it is better. When asked to rate the college in 15 academic and non-academic areas, graduates gave NCC particularly high marks in quality of instruction in their majors, general condition of buildings and grounds, the attitude of faculty towards students, variety of courses, and in testing and grading. When rating “the college in general,” 88% of students awarded the college a 4 or better on a scale of 1 to 5 (with 5 being the highest).

Educational objectives were achieved at Northampton by 95% of those surveyed. Nine out of ten respondents feel that, regardless of the financial benefits, their college education has improved the quality of their lives. Forty percent said that if the community college were not available, they would not have been able to continue their education.