California State
University-Monterey Bay
Public College in Seaside, CA. Six-year graduation rate 59%. Median 10-year earnings $59,247.
Ten years after entry, the median California State University-Monterey Bay student earns $59,247 — a solidly middle-of-the-pack result for an undergraduate institution. The six-year graduation rate is 59%, meaning about two in five students who start do not finish. Median debt at graduation is $12,750, a light load against those earnings. Mobility is where this school separates itself: 3.4% of students move 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 0.22 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
Admission is not the constraint here: 97% of applicants are accepted. The applicant pool is large — 14,933 in the most recent cycle — so the published rate reflects genuine competition rather than a small-sample quirk. Only 10% of admitted students enroll — the great majority of admits go elsewhere or nowhere.
Test score bands (middle 50% of submitters)
These bands describe the enrolled first-years who submitted a score, not the entering class. Where most students apply test-optional the submitters are a self-selected, higher-scoring group.
| Test | 25th–75th percentile | Submitted |
|---|---|---|
| SAT Evidence-Based Reading | — | — |
| SAT Math | — | |
| ACT Composite | — | — |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at California State University-Monterey Bay →Academics
Completion is middling: 59% finish inside six years. Retention is strong at 80%, and first-year attrition is where most degrees are lost. Retention and completion are close, which places the gap between entering and finishing almost entirely in year one. Retention drops to 14% for part-time students, a gap worth weighing if full-time study is not realistic. At 24:1, instructor access is thin — worth probing on a campus visit.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 5,811 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price is $14,493 a year after grant aid — low for a four-year institution, though your own figure depends on aid eligibility. Net price swings hard on family income here, from $9,970 at the $0–30k band to $22,818 at $110k+. About 70% get grants averaging $11,916, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. 29% of students take federal loans, a middling borrowing rate.
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 · 929 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 | $9,970 |
| $30–48k | $9,981 |
| $48–75k | $12,440 |
| $75–110k | $16,281 |
| $110k+ | $22,818 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 1,683 of these 5,811 students, totalling $8,464,973 — an average of $5,030 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Monterey 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)