Occidental College
Private College in Los Angeles, CA. Six-year graduation rate 81%. Median 10-year earnings $75,951.
A decade after enrolling, the median Occidental College student earns $75,951 — comfortably above what the typical bachelor's-granting institution returns. 81% graduate within six years, so most students who start here finish here. Graduates carry a median of $23,000 in debt — in line with the national norm. Mobility is where this school separates itself: 3.3% of students move 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.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.30 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ Graduation rate 81% — well above the national average
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
At 44%, the acceptance rate makes Occidental College a school worth applying to with alternatives in hand. 6,461 students applied in the most recent cycle — a mid-sized pool drawn mostly from the surrounding region. Only 18% of admitted students enroll — the great majority of admits go elsewhere or nowhere. The score bands below rest on the 20% of enrolled first-years who submitted an SAT score — a self-selected group, and not a cutoff.
Test score bands (middle 50% of submitters)
These bands describe the enrolled first-years who submitted a score, not the entering class. Where most students apply test-optional the submitters are a self-selected, higher-scoring group.
| Test | 25th–75th percentile | Submitted |
|---|---|---|
| SAT Evidence-Based Reading | 690–750 | 101 (20%) |
| SAT Math | 690–770 | |
| ACT Composite | 31–34 | 41 (8%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Occidental College →Academics
81% of students finish within six years, putting completion well above the national norm. Retention is strong at 90%, and first-year attrition is where most degrees are lost. The 9:1 student-faculty ratio is small enough that seminar-sized classes are the norm. As a private nonprofit four-year college, the relevant comparison is other four-year schools rather than the national average across all institutions. At 1,938 undergraduates, expect a small, closely-held student body.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,928 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay $48,400 a year on average after aid, a premium price that the earnings data has to justify. The income table below is the number that matters — $20,705 at $0–30k versus $54,959 at $110k+. About 76% get grants averaging $35,409, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. Federal borrowing reaches 37% of students.
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 · 532 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 | $20,705 |
| $30–48k | $17,655 |
| $48–75k | $21,468 |
| $75–110k | $28,033 |
| $110k+ | $54,959 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 720 of these 1,928 students, totalling $4,362,273 — an average of $6,059 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Los Angeles 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)