California State University-Monterey Bay

What the IPEDS & College Scorecard Data Shows for California State University-Monterey Bay

California State University-Monterey Bay operates as a public institution located in Seaside, California (suburb: midsize), with a total reported enrollment of 6,819 students of which 6,673 are undergraduates. Institution-level records in the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) classify each school by Carnegie category, ownership sector, and urban/rural locale, which is how this profile’s peer group and cost cohort are determined. California State University-Monterey Bay is categorized as “18” under the Carnegie classification system, a meaningful signal when comparing like-to-like institutions.

Selectivity and financial signals give context to what applicants can expect. The reported admission rate is 97.4%, drawn from the most recent IPEDS Fall enrollment survey. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $13,663, with published in-state tuition of $7,779 and a Pell grant recipient share of 43.2%. Median federal student debt at graduation is $12,750, drawn from the U.S. Treasury-matched College Scorecard file.

Outcomes reveal whether the investment pays back. The 4-year completion rate is 61.1%, and the first-year retention rate is 79.9%. Graduates earn a median of $59,247 ten years after enrolling, compared with $48,648 six years post-enrollment. Within three years of entering repayment, 216500.0% of borrowers are making progress on their federal loans, and 61.3% of graduates earn above the high-school threshold. Treating these numbers as a single snapshot alongside the cost cohort is the standard approach for evaluating ROI under the College Scorecard methodology.