West Los
Angeles College
Public Community College in Culver City, CA. Six-year graduation rate 28%. Median 10-year earnings $38,537.
Median earnings ten years after entry come to $38,537, 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. Median debt at graduation is $13,500, 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.
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Graduation rate 28% — below national average
Academics
Completion is the problem here: 28% graduate within six years. A 12% transfer-out rate accounts for part of that gap: those students left for another institution rather than dropping out, and the graduation rate above counts them as non-completers here. A 26:1 ratio means students need to be deliberate about getting faculty time. Judge these figures against other institutions of the same type — sector explains more of the variation in completion than any single campus factor. 9,299 undergraduates makes this a mid-sized institution.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 7,277 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price is $11,164 a year after grant aid — low for a four-year institution, though your own figure depends on aid eligibility. The gap between the $0–30k and $75–110k bands is narrow ($9,327 versus $14,028), meaning aid is not strongly need-weighted. 68% of students receive grant aid, averaging $3,225 — common but not automatic. Only 3% 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 · 363 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 | $9,327 |
| $30–48k | $8,549 |
| $48–75k | $11,153 |
| $75–110k | $14,028 |
| $110k+ | — |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 189 of these 7,277 students, totalling $1,469,736 — an average of $7,776 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Los Angeles 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)