San Joaquin
Valley College-Bakersfield
For-profit Community College in Bakersfield, CA. Six-year graduation rate 58%. Median 10-year earnings $38,317.
Ten-year median earnings of $38,317 are on the low side, which raises the bar for what this degree needs to cost. Six-year completion sits at 58%, near the national average for undergraduate institutions. Borrowing stays contained, with median debt at graduation of $10,674.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.28 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Academics
Six-year completion sits at 58%, meaning about two in five students who enroll leave without finishing. Retention of 67% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. The student-faculty ratio is 19:1 — typical, which in practice means large lectures early and smaller classes in the major. As a for-profit two-year institution, outcomes here deserve a harder look than the sector average suggests: for-profit institutions vary enormously, and the sector's aggregate numbers hide both strong and very weak performers. The undergraduate body is just 1,250, which shapes everything from class size to how often a required course is offered.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,250 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Net price lands at $23,272 a year on average, neither cheap nor punishing. Income makes less difference than usual: $23,186 at $0–30k, $27,534 at $110k+. 63% of students receive grant aid, averaging $4,942 — common but not automatic. Borrowing is widespread: 71% take federal loans.
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 · 359 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 | $23,186 |
| $30–48k | $19,339 |
| $48–75k | $23,578 |
| $75–110k | $27,534 |
| $110k+ | $27,534 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 890 of these 1,250 students, totalling $6,491,757 — an average of $7,294 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Kern County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026