Sierra College
Public Community College in Rocklin, CA. Six-year graduation rate 42%. Median 10-year earnings $45,294.
The median ten-year earnings figure of $45,294 sits near the national middle rather than at either extreme. 42% finish within six years — respectable, though a meaningful share still leave without a credential. Median debt at graduation is $10,500, 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 0.23 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Academics
Six-year completion sits at 42%, meaning about three in five students who enroll leave without finishing. Retention of 72% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. That gap between coming back and finishing is where this school loses people — after the first year, not during it. The part-time picture is harder: 46% return, against 72% full-time. At 25:1, instructor access is thin — worth probing on a campus visit.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 13,455 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
At $10,285 a year on average after grant aid, cost is low here relative to most undergraduate institutions. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $5,042 while those at $110k+ pay $13,386. 61% of students receive grant aid, averaging $4,738 — common but not automatic. Only 2% take federal loans. Private borrowing is not captured in this figure.
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 · 1,608 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 | $5,042 |
| $30–48k | $7,302 |
| $48–75k | $9,663 |
| $75–110k | $12,648 |
| $110k+ | $13,386 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 301 of these 13,455 students, totalling $2,092,366 — an average of $6,951 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Placer 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)