Hartnell College
Public Community College in Salinas, CA. Six-year graduation rate 40%. Median 10-year earnings $44,316.
Students who entered Hartnell College land at a median of $44,316 a decade later, close to what most four-year schools deliver. 40% finish within six years — respectable, though a meaningful share still leave without a credential. On economic mobility, 3.0% of students travel 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.
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Academics
40% graduate within six years — average, but that average still hides a large group who do not. First-year retention is 73% — the single largest point of attrition on this campus. The distance between those two figures is the part worth noticing — students return for a second year at a much higher rate than they graduate, so attrition here is spread across the middle years rather than concentrated in the first. The part-time picture is harder: 38% return, against 73% full-time. The student-faculty ratio is 22:1 — typical, which in practice means large lectures early and smaller classes in the major.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 7,153 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price is $5,246 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 $828 at the $0–30k band to $9,885 at $110k+. About 77% get grants averaging $4,627, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price.
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 · 878 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 | $828 |
| $30–48k | $465 |
| $48–75k | $3,124 |
| $75–110k | $6,856 |
| $110k+ | $9,885 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 29 of these 7,153 students, totalling $184,467 — an average of $6,361 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)