Santa Rosa
Junior College
Public Community College in Santa Rosa, CA. Six-year graduation rate 37%. Median 10-year earnings $47,224.
Students who entered Santa Rosa Junior College land at a median of $47,224 a decade later, close to what most four-year schools deliver. Only 37% finish within six years, so roughly two in three students leave without the credential they enrolled for. Median debt at graduation is $9,500, 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 0.20 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Academics
A six-year graduation rate of 37% means finishing is closer to the exception than the rule. 72% of full-time first-years come back for year two, so about one in four are gone before sophomore year. The distance between those two figures is the part worth noticing — students return for a second year at a much higher rate than they graduate, so attrition here is spread across the middle years rather than concentrated in the first. Retention drops to 48% for part-time students, a gap worth weighing if full-time study is not realistic. The student-faculty ratio is 20:1 — typical, which in practice means large lectures early and smaller classes in the major.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 14,327 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $8,690 annually, well below typical undergraduate net price. Net price swings hard on family income here, from $5,275 at the $0–30k band to $13,345 at $110k+. About 50% get grants averaging $4,325, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. 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 · 888 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 | $5,275 |
| $30–48k | $5,434 |
| $48–75k | $7,693 |
| $75–110k | $11,038 |
| $110k+ | $13,345 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 126 of these 14,327 students, totalling $875,015 — an average of $6,945 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Sonoma 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)