Taft College
Public Community College in Taft, CA. Six-year graduation rate 28%. Median 10-year earnings $38,861.
Median earnings ten years after entry come to $38,861, below what most undergraduate institutions return — the central fact to weigh against cost here. Only 28% finish within six years, so roughly three in four students leave without the credential they enrolled for. Mobility is where this school separates itself: 3.4% of students move from the bottom income quintile to the top.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ! Graduation rate 28% — below national average
Academics
A six-year graduation rate of 28% means finishing is closer to the exception than the rule. A 28:1 ratio means students need to be deliberate about getting faculty time. As a public four-year university, the relevant comparison is other four-year schools rather than the national average across all institutions. With 4,135 undergraduates, the school sits in the middle of the size distribution.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 3,216 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
At $5,025 a year on average after grant aid, cost is low here relative to most undergraduate institutions. Income makes less difference than usual: $1,934 at $0–30k, $7,756 at $75–110k. Grant aid is limited — 48% of students receive any.
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 · 254 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 | $1,934 |
| $30–48k | $2,536 |
| $48–75k | $3,985 |
| $75–110k | $7,756 |
| $110k+ | — |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 14 of these 3,216 students, totalling $104,907 — an average of $7,493 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Kern 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)