CET-Santa Maria
Private College in Santa Maria, CA. Median 10-year earnings $32,986.
Ten-year median earnings of $32,986 are on the low side, which raises the bar for what this degree needs to cost. Graduates leave owing a median of $7,041 — 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 0.21 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Academics
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. 92% of full-time first-years return for a second year — a healthy figure. The 24:1 student-faculty ratio is high, so large classes and limited faculty contact should be the expectation. As a private nonprofit short-program school, the relevant comparison is other two-year schools rather than the national average across all institutions. The undergraduate body is just 209, which shapes everything from class size to how often a required course is offered.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 209 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price is $6,942 a year after grant aid — low for a four-year institution, though your own figure depends on aid eligibility. Net price varies modestly by income — $4,846 at $0–30k against $4,714 at $75–110k — so the average is a fair guide for most families. Grant aid reaches 66% of students at an average of $16,820. 12% 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 · 70 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 | $4,846 |
| $30–48k | $5,802 |
| $48–75k | $7,319 |
| $75–110k | $4,714 |
| $110k+ | — |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 26 of these 209 students, totalling $183,239 — an average of $7,048 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Santa Barbara County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026