Santa Ana College
Public Community College in Santa Ana, CA. Six-year graduation rate 31%. Median 10-year earnings $43,552.
Ten years after entry, the median Santa Ana College student earns $43,552 — a solidly middle-of-the-pack result for an undergraduate institution. The six-year graduation rate is 31% — low enough that finishing cannot be treated as the default outcome. Graduates leave owing a median of $6,871 — 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 0.16 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Graduation rate 31% — below national average
Academics
Only 31% finish within six years, so roughly two in three students leave without the credential. At 33:1, instructor access is thin — worth probing on a campus visit. As a public four-year university, the relevant comparison is other four-year schools rather than the national average across all institutions. With 26,073 undergraduates, this is a large institution — expect the administrative scale and the range of offerings that come with it.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 22,011 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $5,894 annually, well below typical undergraduate net price. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $1,970 while those at $110k+ pay $10,160. Grant aid is limited — 42% of students receive any. 1% 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 · 1,252 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 | $1,970 |
| $30–48k | $2,385 |
| $48–75k | $5,278 |
| $75–110k | $8,575 |
| $110k+ | $10,160 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 166 of these 22,011 students, totalling $1,974,949 — an average of $11,897 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Orange 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)