San Diego
Mesa College
Public Community College in San Diego, CA. Six-year graduation rate 34%. Median 10-year earnings $45,120.
Students who entered San Diego Mesa College land at a median of $45,120 a decade later, close to what most four-year schools deliver. Completion is the weak point: 34% graduate within six years. Borrowing stays contained, with median debt at graduation of $4,725.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.10 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Graduation rate 34% — below national average
Academics
Only 34% finish within six years, so roughly two in three students leave without the credential. A 16% transfer-out rate accounts for part of that gap: those students left for another institution rather than dropping out, and the graduation rate above counts them as non-completers here. At 23:1, instructor access is thin — worth probing on a campus visit. Judge these figures against other institutions of the same type — sector explains more of the variation in completion than any single campus factor. The undergraduate body runs to 19,243, large enough that student experience varies widely by program.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 15,899 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
At $10,316 a year on average after grant aid, cost is low here relative to most undergraduate institutions. Net price swings hard on family income here, from $3,842 at the $0–30k band to $13,977 at $110k+. 60% of students receive grant aid, averaging $4,808 — common but not automatic. Federal borrowing is uncommon here at 2% 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 · 1,170 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 | $3,842 |
| $30–48k | $5,316 |
| $48–75k | $8,883 |
| $75–110k | $13,576 |
| $110k+ | $13,977 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 328 of these 15,899 students, totalling $1,357,067 — an average of $4,137 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)