Two years in Rocklin
before finishing your bachelor's
You're deciding whether to spend your first two years at Sierra College before transferring to a four-year institution in California. That choice turns on the numbers — how many students actually transfer, what you'll owe when you leave, and what earnings look like a decade out.
19,125 undergrads, 28% transfer out by year 8, median $45k 10-yr earnings, $10,500 median debt.
A Rocklin CC with above-average transfer momentum and a clean debt profile
Sierra College enrolls 19,125 undergraduates in Rocklin, in Placer County northeast of Sacramento. The eight-year transfer-out rate is 28%, above the national community college range of 15–25% and a real signal of transfer activity, not just enrollment. Median earnings ten years out are $45k — higher than most California CCs in our data. Median borrower debt is $10,500 with a 0% three-year loan default rate. Health Services leads program volume at 616 completions, followed by Social Sciences (534) and Biological and Physical Sciences (456). In-state tuition is $1,104 annually and net price is $7,245, keeping the cost side manageable for transfer-minded students.
Sierra College sits in Rocklin, California, serving Placer County and the northeastern edge of the Sacramento metro. It enrolls 19,125 undergraduates, with 65% attending part-time — a share that reliably stretches completion timelines and shapes the outcome numbers around it. Health Services leads program volume at 616 completions, with Social Sciences at 534, Biological and Physical Sciences at 456, Business Administration at 321, and Psychology at 304 — a mix built squarely around transfer-prep tracks. The eight-year transfer-out rate is 28%, above the typical 15–25% national range for community colleges. An additional 31% completed a credential at Sierra itself. Median earnings ten years out are $45k — higher than most California CCs in our data. Median borrower debt is $10,500 with a 0% three-year loan default rate. In-state tuition is $1,104 annually and net price is $7,245. For a Sacramento-region student with a four-year degree in sight, the fundamentals here are workable.
What this CC teaches at scale
| Program | Completions |
|---|---|
| Health Services/Allied Health/Health Sciences, General. | 616 |
| Social Sciences, General. | 534 |
| Biological and Physical Sciences. | 456 |
| Business Administration and Management, General. | 321 |
| Psychology, General. | 304 |
| Criminal Justice/Law Enforcement Administration. | 126 |
| Economics, General. | 102 |
| Biology/Biological Sciences, General. | 78 |
| Child Care Provider/Assistant. | 73 |
| Fire Prevention and Safety Technology/Technician. | 72 |
Source · IPEDS completions (all undergraduate credentials).
Where California 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 Sierra College a good place to start a bachelor's degree?
- The data makes a genuinely positive case. Sierra's eight-year transfer-out rate is 28%, above the 15–25% national community college range — a real signal of transfer activity rather than just enrollment. Median earnings ten years out are $45k, which is stronger than most California CCs in our data and suggests students who move through Sierra land in decent economic positions down the road. Median borrower debt is $10,500 and the three-year loan default rate is 0%, so borrowing outcomes look clean. In-state tuition is $1,104 annually and net price is $7,245, keeping the cost of the first two years manageable. The 65% part-time population means a meaningful share of students will take longer than two years to reach transfer, so plan the timeline accordingly.
- How does Sierra College's transfer-out rate compare to typical community colleges?
- Sierra's eight-year transfer-out rate is 28%. National research places the average community college transfer rate in the 15–25% range, so Sierra lands above that band. That's more meaningful given that 65% of Sierra students attend part-time — part-time enrollment generally drags transfer rates down because students take longer and are more likely to stop out before completing transfer requirements. An additional 31% of students completed a credential at Sierra itself within eight years, and 1% were still enrolled at that mark. Taken together, roughly 60% of enrolled students either transferred or finished a credential at Sierra, which is a functional outcome profile for a community college serving a part-time-heavy population.
- What programs does Sierra College offer at meaningful scale?
- Sierra's largest program by completions is Health Services/Allied Health (616), followed by Social Sciences (534), Biological and Physical Sciences (456), Business Administration and Management (321), and Psychology (304). Criminal Justice (126), Economics (102), Biology (78), Child Care Provider (73), and Fire Prevention and Safety Technology (72) round out the top ten. The mix is heavily oriented toward transfer-prep academic tracks — social sciences, natural sciences, psychology, economics — with a substantive health and allied health presence and a smaller specialized footprint in public safety (criminal justice, fire prevention). For students aiming at a four-year transfer path in health, STEM, business, or social sciences, the program depth is real and the course infrastructure should be built out.
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.