Monterey Peninsula College
Public Community College in Monterey, CA. Six-year graduation rate 40%. Median 10-year earnings $42,176.
The median ten-year earnings figure of $42,176 sits near the national middle rather than at either extreme. Completion is the weak point: 40% graduate within six years.
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
Completion is the problem here: 40% graduate within six years. First-year retention is 68% — 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. Transfer-out runs to 12% — common enough at this school that the completion rate is measuring a smaller group than the entering class. The part-time picture is harder: 35% return, against 68% full-time.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 5,759 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
At $14,483 a year on average after grant aid, cost is low here relative to most undergraduate institutions. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $9,451 while those at $110k+ pay $18,340. About 52% get grants averaging $3,945, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. 1% 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 · 539 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 | $9,451 |
| $30–48k | $10,277 |
| $48–75k | $13,602 |
| $75–110k | $15,700 |
| $110k+ | $18,340 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 80 of these 5,759 students, totalling $569,347 — an average of $7,117 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)