San Joaquin
Valley College-Santa Maria
For-profit College in Santa Maria, CA. Six-year graduation rate 63%. Median 10-year earnings $38,317.
Students who entered San Joaquin Valley College-Santa Maria reach a median of $38,317 a decade later, a figure that trails the typical four-year outcome. 63% finish within six years — respectable, though a meaningful share still leave without a credential. Median debt at graduation is $10,674, a light load against those earnings.
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 63%, meaning about two in five students who enroll leave without finishing. Retention of 69% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. A 14:1 ratio points to small classes and accessible faculty. This is a for-profit two-year institution. That is not disqualifying, but it does mean verifying accreditation, transferability of credits, and job-placement claims directly rather than trusting the category. This is a small school — 223 undergraduates — so cohorts are tight and the program list is necessarily short.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 223 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Net price lands at $26,558 a year on average, neither cheap nor punishing. Income makes less difference than usual: $25,834 at $0–30k, $29,900 at $110k+. About 62% get grants averaging $4,820, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. 72% of students borrow federally, so debt is the norm rather than the exception.
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 · 56 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 | $25,834 |
| $30–48k | $26,290 |
| $48–75k | $24,899 |
| $75–110k | — |
| $110k+ | $29,900 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 161 of these 223 students, totalling $1,126,847 — an average of $6,999 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Santa Barbara County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026