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For-profit College

California Hair
Design Academy

For-profit College in La Mesa, CA. Median 10-year earnings $19,347.

Verdict Mixed outcomes
California Hair Design Academy · Campus
Median earnings · 10 yr
$19,347
Median debt at grad
$6,333
Federal loan default
0%

Students who entered California Hair Design Academy reach a median of $19,347 a decade later, a figure that trails the typical four-year outcome. Borrowing stays contained, with median debt at graduation of $6,333.

Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.

Green Flags
  • ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.33 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
  • ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Red Flags

Academics

Full-time retention
88%
Transfer-out rate
—
Student:faculty
14:1

The federal six-year graduation rate is not published here — typically because the entering cohort this measure follows is too small or too atypical to report. Treat completion as unknown rather than assuming either direction. 88% of full-time first-years return for a second year — a healthy figure. At 14:1, students get materially more instructor contact than at a typical public university. As a for-profit short-program school, outcomes here deserve a harder look than the sector average suggests: for-profit institutions vary enormously, and the sector's aggregate numbers hide both strong and very weak performers. The undergraduate body is just 176, which shapes everything from class size to how often a required course is offered.

Financial Aid

Average net price
$23,160
Full-time, first-time undergraduates paying the in-state rate who were awarded grant or scholarship aid
% receiving grants
65%
degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
% receiving federal loans
51%
degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 176 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates

Net price lands at $23,160 a year on average, neither cheap nor punishing. About 65% get grants averaging $4,033, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. Federal borrowing reaches 51% 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.

% receiving grants
95%
Average grant
$4,858

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 38 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 $23,607
$30–48k —
$48–75k —
$75–110k —
$110k+ —

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24

Federal student loans went to 90 of these 176 students, totalling $388,296 — an average of $4,314 each.

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24

Local housing costs

Typical rents near campus (San Diego County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.

Studio
$2,288/mo
1 bedroom
$2,459/mo
2 bedroom (whole unit)
$3,001/mo

HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026

Veterans & GI Bill

GI Bill students
11
Yellow Ribbon
No
Principles of Excellence
No

VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)

Compare California Hair Design Academy with peer institutions

How we evaluate California Hair Design Academy

IPEDS
US Department of Education
College Scorecard
Post-grad earnings
Census PSEO
Earnings by major
Opportunity Insights
Mobility by institution
Read our full methodology →