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Public Community College

Central Arizona College

Public Community College in Coolidge, AZ. Six-year graduation rate 27%. Median 10-year earnings $40,513.

Verdict Mixed outcomes
Central Arizona College · Campus
Median earnings · 10 yr
$40,513
Median debt at grad
$10,010
Mobility score
1.7
% bottom→top quintile
Graduation rate
27.1%
Federal loan default
0%

Students who entered Central Arizona College reach a median of $40,513 a decade later, a figure that trails the typical four-year outcome. Only 27% finish within six years, so roughly three in four students leave without the credential they enrolled for. Graduates leave owing a median of $10,010 — modest by four-year standards.

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 0.25 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
  • 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Red Flags
  • ! Graduation rate 27% — below national average

Academics

Full-time retention
61%
Transfer-out rate
20%
Student:faculty
15:1

A six-year graduation rate of 27% means finishing is closer to the exception than the rule. Retention of 61% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. Retention runs well ahead of completion, which means students are not leaving immediately; they are leaving somewhere between the second year and the finish line. 20% transfer out. IPEDS does not follow them, so whether they finished elsewhere is not recorded either way. Part-time students fare worse, returning at 36% — relevant if you plan to work while enrolled.

Financial Aid

Average net price
$5,544
Full-time, first-time undergraduates paying the in-state rate who were awarded grant or scholarship aid
% receiving grants
50%
degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
% receiving federal loans
3%
degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 4,893 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates

At $5,544 a year on average after grant aid, cost is low here relative to most undergraduate institutions. Income makes less difference than usual: $3,900 at $0–30k, $8,897 at $110k+. 50% of students receive grant aid, averaging $7,211 — common but not automatic. 3% 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.

% receiving grants
74%
Average grant
$5,325

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 423 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 $3,900
$30–48k $3,657
$48–75k $6,413
$75–110k $8,328
$110k+ $8,897

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24

Federal student loans went to 150 of these 4,893 students, totalling $1,516,760 — an average of $10,112 each.

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24

Local housing costs

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

Studio
$1,457/mo
1 bedroom
$1,583/mo
2 bedroom (whole unit)
$1,839/mo

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

Veterans & GI Bill

VA caution flag

Heightened Cash Monitoring (Financial Responsibility); School placed on Heightened Cash Monitoring

GI Bill students
151
Yellow Ribbon
No
Principles of Excellence
No

VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)

Compare Central Arizona College with peer institutions

How we evaluate Central Arizona College

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