Barstow Community College
Public Community College in Barstow, CA. Six-year graduation rate 39%. Median 10-year earnings $35,104.
Students who entered Barstow Community College reach a median of $35,104 a decade later, a figure that trails the typical four-year outcome. Only 39% finish within six years, so roughly three in five students leave without the credential they enrolled for. Median debt at graduation is $3,500, a light load against those earnings. On economic mobility, 3.5% 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 0.10 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Academics
Completion is the problem here: 39% graduate within six years. First-year retention is 67% — the single largest point of attrition on this campus. That gap between coming back and finishing is where this school loses people — after the first year, not during it. Part-time students fare worse, returning at 35% — relevant if you plan to work while enrolled. At 26:1, instructor access is thin — worth probing on a campus visit.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 2,585 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $14,048 annually, well below typical undergraduate net price. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $12,239 while those at $110k+ pay $20,351. About 81% get grants averaging $6,731, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. Only 14% 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 · 248 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 | $12,239 |
| $30–48k | $11,957 |
| $48–75k | $14,229 |
| $75–110k | $17,963 |
| $110k+ | $20,351 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 365 of these 2,585 students, totalling $1,330,704 — an average of $3,646 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (San Bernardino 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)