Golden West College
Public Community College in Huntington Beach, CA. Six-year graduation rate 49%. Median 10-year earnings $43,145.
The median ten-year earnings figure of $43,145 sits near the national middle rather than at either extreme. Six-year completion sits at 49%, near the national average for undergraduate institutions. Borrowing stays contained, with median debt at graduation of $7,179.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.17 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Academics
Six-year completion sits at 49%, meaning about one in two students who enroll leave without finishing. Retention of 70% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. Retention and graduation track closely, so most of the attrition shows up in the first year rather than after it. Part-time students fare worse, returning at 35% — relevant if you plan to work while enrolled. The 29:1 student-faculty ratio is high, so large classes and limited faculty contact should be the expectation.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 8,919 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price is $6,681 a year after grant aid — low for a four-year institution, though your own figure depends on aid eligibility. The gap between the $0–30k and $110k+ bands is narrow ($3,417 versus $10,837), meaning aid is not strongly need-weighted. 61% of students receive grant aid, averaging $4,249 — 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 · 967 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 | $3,417 |
| $30–48k | $4,126 |
| $48–75k | $7,481 |
| $75–110k | $10,405 |
| $110k+ | $10,837 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 162 of these 8,919 students, totalling $922,381 — an average of $5,694 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)