Cabrillo College
Public Community College in Aptos, CA. Six-year graduation rate 38%. Median 10-year earnings $44,114.
Ten years after entry, the median Cabrillo College student earns $44,114 — a solidly middle-of-the-pack result for an undergraduate institution. Completion is the weak point: 38% graduate within six years. Graduates leave owing a median of $14,380 — modest by four-year standards.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.33 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Academics
A six-year graduation rate of 38% means finishing is closer to the exception than the rule. Retention of 73% 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: 55% return, against 73% full-time. The student-faculty ratio is 20:1 — typical, which in practice means large lectures early and smaller classes in the major.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 7,404 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Net price lands at $20,716 a year on average, neither cheap nor punishing. Income makes less difference than usual: $14,656 at $0–30k, $19,252 at $75–110k. About 58% get grants averaging $4,754, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. 2% borrow federally — a low rate, though it covers federal loans only.
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 · 542 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 | $14,656 |
| $30–48k | $14,911 |
| $48–75k | $17,780 |
| $75–110k | $19,252 |
| $110k+ | — |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 115 of these 7,404 students, totalling $891,539 — an average of $7,753 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Santa Cruz 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)