Palo Verde College
Public Community College in Blythe, CA. Six-year graduation rate 31%. Median 10-year earnings $36,389.
Median earnings ten years after entry come to $36,389, below what most undergraduate institutions return — the central fact to weigh against cost here. Completion is the weak point: 31% graduate within six years.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ! Graduation rate 31% — below national average
Academics
Only 31% finish within six years, so roughly two in three students leave without the credential. Retention is weak: only 52% of full-time first-years return, so roughly one in two leave after one year. Retention and completion are close, which places the gap between entering and finishing almost entirely in year one. Retention drops to 23% for part-time students, a gap worth weighing if full-time study is not realistic. At 22:1, class sizes land in the normal range for an undergraduate institution.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 2,909 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Net price lands at $22,492 a year on average, neither cheap nor punishing. The gap between the $0–30k and $48–75k bands is narrow ($18,723 versus $19,212), meaning aid is not strongly need-weighted. Most students get help: 100% receive grants worth $1,365 on average.
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 · 97 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 | $18,723 |
| $30–48k | $19,625 |
| $48–75k | $19,212 |
| $75–110k | — |
| $110k+ | — |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Riverside 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)