Laurus College
For-profit Community College in San Luis Obispo, CA. Six-year graduation rate 50%. Median 10-year earnings $30,896.
Ten-year median earnings of $30,896 are on the low side, which raises the bar for what this degree needs to cost. 50% finish within six years — respectable, though a meaningful share still leave without a credential. Debt is the pressure point: a median of $32,416 at graduation.
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
- ! Debt-to-income ratio 1.05 — elevated (above 0.60)
Academics
Six-year completion sits at 50%, meaning about one in two students who enroll leave without finishing. Retention of 79% 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 23:1 student-faculty ratio is high, so large classes and limited faculty contact should be the expectation. This is a for-profit four-year institution. That is not disqualifying, but it does mean verifying accreditation, transferability of credits, and job-placement claims directly rather than trusting the category.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,051 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $22,326 annually once grants are applied. Net price varies modestly by income — $18,278 at $0–30k against $23,932 at $48–75k — so the average is a fair guide for most families. Grant aid reaches 70% of students at an average of $3,768. Borrowing is widespread: 65% take federal loans.
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 · 380 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 | $18,278 |
| $30–48k | $22,510 |
| $48–75k | $23,932 |
| $75–110k | — |
| $110k+ | — |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 681 of these 1,051 students, totalling $3,985,120 — an average of $5,852 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (San Luis Obispo County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
School operating under provisional accreditation (previously accredited by ACICS)
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)