Ventura College
Public Community College in Ventura, CA. Six-year graduation rate 38%. Median 10-year earnings $43,430.
The median ten-year earnings figure of $43,430 sits near the national middle rather than at either extreme. The six-year graduation rate is 39% — low enough that finishing cannot be treated as the default outcome. Median debt at graduation is $13,876, 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 0.32 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Academics
Completion is the problem here: 39% graduate within six years. Retention of 74% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. 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. Part-time students fare worse, returning at 37% — relevant if you plan to work while enrolled. The 29:1 student-faculty ratio is high, so large classes and limited faculty contact should be the expectation.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 9,971 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price is $2,522 a year after grant aid — low for a four-year institution, though your own figure depends on aid eligibility. Net price swings hard on family income here, from $-1,913 at the $0–30k band to $6,577 at $110k+. 67% of students receive grant aid, averaging $4,329 — common but not automatic. Only 1% 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 · 1,314 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 | $-1,913 |
| $30–48k | $-2,393 |
| $48–75k | $524 |
| $75–110k | $4,165 |
| $110k+ | $6,577 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 86 of these 9,971 students, totalling $531,116 — an average of $6,176 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Ventura 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)