Fullerton College
Public Community College in Fullerton, CA. Six-year graduation rate 34%. Median 10-year earnings $43,366.
Students who entered Fullerton College land at a median of $43,366 a decade later, close to what most four-year schools deliver. Completion is the weak point: 34% graduate within six years. Borrowing stays contained, with median debt at graduation of $4,500.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.10 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.1% — below national benchmark
- ! Graduation rate 34% — below national average
Academics
Completion is the problem here: 34% graduate within six years. Retention of 72% 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. The part-time picture is harder: 41% return, against 72% full-time. A 25:1 ratio means students need to be deliberate about getting faculty time.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 16,641 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price is $8,306 a year after grant aid — low for a four-year institution, though your own figure depends on aid eligibility. Income makes less difference than usual: $4,944 at $0–30k, $11,574 at $110k+. 63% of students receive grant aid, averaging $4,005 — common but not automatic. Only 2% take federal loans. Private borrowing is not captured in this figure.
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 · 2,221 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 | $4,944 |
| $30–48k | $5,200 |
| $48–75k | $7,915 |
| $75–110k | $10,392 |
| $110k+ | $11,574 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 356 of these 16,641 students, totalling $2,083,250 — an average of $5,852 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Orange 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)