San Joaquin
Valley College-Trades Education Center
For-profit College in Fresno, CA. Six-year graduation rate 80%. 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. The six-year graduation rate of 80% is well above average and the clearest sign this school holds onto its students. Graduates leave owing a median of $10,674 — modest by four-year standards.
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)
- ✓ Graduation rate 80% — well above the national average
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Academics
Six-year completion runs to 80% — students who start here overwhelmingly finish here. First-year retention of 80% shows the cohort holds together through the hardest year. At 33:1, instructor access is thin — worth probing on a campus visit. 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. The undergraduate body is just 490, 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 490 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price after grant aid is $27,432 a year — mid-range for a four-year institution. Net price varies modestly by income — $27,311 at $0–30k against $32,312 at $110k+ — so the average is a fair guide for most families. Grant aid reaches 61% of students at an average of $4,411. Borrowing is widespread: 63% 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 · 196 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 | $27,311 |
| $30–48k | $27,372 |
| $48–75k | $27,785 |
| $75–110k | $28,790 |
| $110k+ | $32,312 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 309 of these 490 students, totalling $1,978,526 — an average of $6,403 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Fresno County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026