San Juan College
Public Community College in Farmington, NM. Six-year graduation rate 37%. Median 10-year earnings $36,513.
Ten-year median earnings of $36,513 are on the low side, which raises the bar for what this degree needs to cost. Only 37% finish within six years, so roughly two in three students leave without the credential they enrolled for. Borrowing stays contained, with median debt at graduation of $9,750. It also moves people — 2.7% 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.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.27 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Academics
Only 37% finish within six years, so roughly two in three students leave without the credential. Retention of 71% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. Retention runs well ahead of completion, which means students are not leaving immediately; they are leaving somewhere between the second year and the finish line. Retention drops to 41% for part-time students, a gap worth weighing if full-time study is not realistic. The 12:1 student-faculty ratio is small enough that seminar-sized classes are the norm.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 4,228 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price is $7,190 a year after grant aid — low for a four-year institution, though your own figure depends on aid eligibility. Net price varies modestly by income — $5,647 at $0–30k against $10,143 at $75–110k — so the average is a fair guide for most families. Grant aid reaches 69% of students at an average of $5,314. 7% borrow federally — a low rate, though it covers federal loans only.
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 · 270 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 | $5,647 |
| $30–48k | $4,474 |
| $48–75k | $7,083 |
| $75–110k | $10,143 |
| $110k+ | — |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 317 of these 4,228 students, totalling $1,716,320 — an average of $5,414 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (San Juan 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)