Low cost, real access
at Pima Community College in Tucson
You're deciding whether to spend your first two years at Pima Community College before finishing a bachelor's elsewhere in Arizona. That means weighing the low tuition and net price against a transfer-out rate that sits at the lower end of the community college range.
16,283 undergrads, 15% transfer out by year 8, median $40k 10-yr earnings, $7,000 median debt.
A mid-size Tucson CC with modest transfer numbers and low-cost access
Pima Community College enrolls 16,283 undergrads in Tucson, with 77% attending part-time. Its eight-year transfer-out rate is 15% — at the lower end of the community college range. Median earnings sit at $40k ten years out, and median borrower debt is a low $7,000 with a 0% three-year loan default rate. Liberal Arts and Sciences accounts for 2,712 completions, making it by far the dominant program. In-state tuition is $2,208 and the net price is $3,405. The cost profile is genuinely attractive; the transfer signal is thin but present.
Pima Community College is a mid-size Tucson institution enrolling 16,283 undergraduates, with 77% attending part-time — a proportion that reflects the working and family obligations many students carry. Liberal Arts and Sciences dominates by volume, with 2,712 completions, far ahead of every other program. Emergency Medical Technology, Industrial Electronics, and Registered Nursing each produce completions in the 149–256 range. The eight-year transfer-out rate is 15%, which puts it at the low end of typical community college benchmarks. Another 1.9% were still enrolled at the eight-year mark, and 23% had completed a credential at Pima itself. Median earnings ten years out are $40k, median debt is $7,000, and the three-year loan default rate is 0%. In-state tuition is $2,208 with a net price of $3,405. For cost-conscious students in the Tucson area, the access price is hard to argue with — but students aiming specifically at transfer should go in with a deliberate plan, given the modest transfer-out rate.
What this CC teaches at scale
| Program | Completions |
|---|---|
| Liberal Arts and Sciences/Liberal Studies. | 2,712 |
| Emergency Medical Technology/Technician (EMT Paramedic). | 256 |
| Industrial Electronics Technology/Technician. | 219 |
| Criminal Justice/Police Science. | 161 |
| Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse. | 149 |
| Business/Commerce, General. | 119 |
| Truck and Bus Driver/Commercial Vehicle Operator and Instructor. | 105 |
| General Studies. | 93 |
| Airframe Mechanics and Aircraft Maintenance Technology/Technician. | 88 |
| Computer and Information Sciences and Support Services, Other. | 87 |
Source · IPEDS completions (all undergraduate credentials).
Where Arizona transfers tend to go
Reflects state-aggregated IPEDS transfer-in volume — CC-specific destinations are not publicly available from IPEDS or the College Scorecard.
Frequently asked
- Is Pima Community College a good place to start a bachelor's degree?
- It depends on how deliberately you pursue transfer. Pima's eight-year transfer-out rate is 15%, which is at the lower end of the community college range — meaning a significant share of students don't complete the transfer step. That said, the financial case is strong: in-state tuition is $2,208, the average net price is $3,405, and median borrower debt is $7,000 with a 0% three-year loan default rate. Median earnings ten years out are $40k. If you enter with a clear transfer plan and stay on it, the low cost makes Pima a reasonable starting point. Students who come in without a defined direction are more likely to stall.
- How does Pima Community College's transfer-out rate compare to typical community colleges?
- Pima's eight-year transfer-out rate is 15%, which sits at the lower end of the national community college range — research typically places the average between 15% and 25%. The 77% part-time enrollment rate at Pima explains part of this: students balancing work or family tend to take longer or shift priorities. An additional 1.9% were still enrolled at the eight-year mark, and 23% completed a credential at Pima itself. The transfer-out number alone doesn't tell the full story, but students who arrive specifically intending to transfer to a four-year school should track that goal carefully — the data suggests many students end up on a different path than originally planned.
- What programs does Pima Community College offer at meaningful scale?
- Liberal Arts and Sciences is Pima's dominant program by a wide margin, with 2,712 completions — it dwarfs everything else and is the primary path for students planning to transfer into a bachelor's program. Emergency Medical Technology/Technician (EMT Paramedic) produced 256 completions, Industrial Electronics Technology 219, Criminal Justice/Police Science 161, and Registered Nursing 149. Business/Commerce, General added 119. The concentration in Liberal Arts is notable: it means the infrastructure around transfer-prep coursework — advising, course sections, articulation pathways — is relatively well-developed compared to more specialized programs. Students in health and technical fields have real volume too, but those programs often lead to direct workforce entry rather than four-year transfer.
Methodology — Transfer signals reflect IPEDS Outcome Measures 8-year cohorts; earnings and debt come from the College Scorecard. Destinations are state-aggregated; we do not claim CC-specific transfer destinations without authoritative per-student tracking data.