California State University-Northridge

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

California State University-Northridge operates as a public institution located in Northridge, California (city: large), with a total reported enrollment of 32,691 students of which 35,820 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-Northridge 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 93.5%, drawn from the most recent IPEDS Fall enrollment survey. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $7,021, with published in-state tuition of $7,458 and a Pell grant recipient share of 56.1%. Median federal student debt at graduation is $13,872, drawn from the U.S. Treasury-matched College Scorecard file.

Outcomes reveal whether the investment pays back. The 4-year completion rate is 56.5%, and the first-year retention rate is 73.4%. Graduates earn a median of $59,115 ten years after enrolling, compared with $44,372 six years post-enrollment. Within three years of entering repayment, 999500.0% of borrowers are making progress on their federal loans, and 63.3% 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.