Arizona Western College
Public Community College in Yuma, AZ. Six-year graduation rate 20%. Median 10-year earnings $36,857.
Median earnings ten years after entry come to $36,857, below what most undergraduate institutions return — the central fact to weigh against cost here. Only 20% finish within six years, so roughly four in five students leave without the credential they enrolled for. Graduates leave owing a median of $4,826 — modest by four-year standards. On economic mobility, 2.4% of students travel from the bottom income quintile to the top.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.13 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Graduation rate 20% — below national average
Academics
Only 20% finish within six years, so roughly four in five students leave without the credential. Retention of 67% 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. Part-time students fare worse, returning at 50% — relevant if you plan to work while enrolled. A 22:1 ratio is unremarkable; expect a mix of lecture halls and seminars.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 6,160 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price is $9,026 a year after grant aid — low for a four-year institution, though your own figure depends on aid eligibility. Income makes less difference than usual: $8,405 at $0–30k, $14,357 at $110k+. About 58% get grants averaging $5,928, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. Only 1% take federal loans. Private borrowing is not captured in this figure.
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 · 474 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 | $8,405 |
| $30–48k | $8,611 |
| $48–75k | $11,164 |
| $75–110k | $12,404 |
| $110k+ | $14,357 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 38 of these 6,160 students, totalling $198,101 — an average of $5,213 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Yuma 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)