Palomar College
Public Community College in San Marcos, CA. Six-year graduation rate 38%. Median 10-year earnings $42,300.
Students who entered Palomar College land at a median of $42,300 a decade later, close to what most four-year schools deliver. Only 38% finish within six years, so roughly three in five students leave without the credential they enrolled for. It also moves people — 2.1% of students climb from the bottom fifth of the income distribution 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
A six-year graduation rate of 38% means finishing is closer to the exception than the rule. First-year retention is 70% — the single largest point of attrition on this campus. That gap between coming back and finishing is where this school loses people — after the first year, not during it. Retention drops to 39% for part-time students, a gap worth weighing if full-time study is not realistic. At 25:1, instructor access is thin — worth probing on a campus visit.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 16,167 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
At $8,372 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 $4,268 while those at $110k+ pay $12,642. Only 49% of students receive grant aid, so most families are paying near the published price. Federal borrowing is uncommon here at 1% 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 · 1,921 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 | $4,268 |
| $30–48k | $4,786 |
| $48–75k | $7,710 |
| $75–110k | $9,766 |
| $110k+ | $12,642 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 151 of these 16,167 students, totalling $1,009,911 — an average of $6,688 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (San Diego 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)