American River College
Public Community College in Sacramento, CA. Six-year graduation rate 37%. Median 10-year earnings $40,162.
Students who entered American River College reach a median of $40,162 a decade later, a figure that trails the typical four-year outcome. Completion is the weak point: 37% graduate within six years. Median debt at graduation is $9,625, a light load against those earnings.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.24 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Academics
Only 37% finish within six years, so roughly two in three students leave without the credential. Retention of 72% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. The distance between those two figures is the part worth noticing — students return for a second year at a much higher rate than they graduate, so attrition here is spread across the middle years rather than concentrated in the first. The part-time picture is harder: 46% return, against 72% full-time. A 29:1 ratio means students need to be deliberate about getting faculty time.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 25,758 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price is $9,488 a year after grant aid — low for a four-year institution, though your own figure depends on aid eligibility. Net price varies modestly by income — $7,599 at $0–30k against $13,845 at $110k+ — so the average is a fair guide for most families. Grant aid reaches 50% of students at an average of $3,451. Federal borrowing is uncommon here at 3% of students.
Entering first-year students
A different, smaller group than the rates above: full-time students in their first year of college anywhere. The grant series here also excludes the "other sources" counted in the all-undergraduate figure, so the two are not comparable.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 1,262 students
Net price by family income
The same students as the headline above, limited to those who received Title IV federal aid — a narrower group, with a lower overall average. IPEDS publishes no combined figure across these bands, so they should not be averaged into one.
| Family income band | Average net price |
|---|---|
| $0–30k | $7,599 |
| $30–48k | $6,219 |
| $48–75k | $9,538 |
| $75–110k | $11,652 |
| $110k+ | $13,845 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 817 of these 25,758 students, totalling $6,185,727 — an average of $7,571 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Sacramento County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)