Public · El Cajon, California

Cuyamaca College

Cuyamaca College is a public institution in El Cajon, California. as a public institution, published Scorecard outcomes are the federal Title-IV cohort view of former students — not every graduate and not a guarantee for any one enrollee.

$6,618
Avg net price / yr
$32,435
10-yr median earnings
37.3%
150%-time completion

The verdict

Cuyamaca College posts modest former-student earnings.

According to the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard.

26th pct.
former-student earnings, US
37.3%
150%-time completion
+9%
earnings, 6→10 yrs
Suburb: Large Carnegie: Associate's
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Institution data retrieved July 2026; field-of-study data retrieved March 2026.

How to read this Cuyamaca College profile

Figures above come from IPEDS institution records published through the College Scorecard (retrieved July 2026 for institution fields; March 2026 for field-of-study). Peer groups and cost cohorts follow IPEDS ownership sector, Carnegie class ("Associate's Colleges: High Transfer-Mixed Traditional/Nontraditional"), and locale, not an editorial shortlist.

Average net price subtracts grant and scholarship aid from cost of attendance for full-time, first-time undergraduate Title IV recipients. It is a defined cohort average, not a personalized price; income-band fields add context but do not replace the school's current net-price calculator.

Earnings use Treasury-linked records for federally aided former students who were working and not enrolled in the measurement year (completers and noncompleters). IPEDS completion and retention use separate first-time, full-time cohorts, so those denominators are not the earnings cohort. Read cost, completion, and earnings as distinct historical measures, not a causal verdict or individual forecast.

College Value Score

D
College Value Score
44/100
Cuyamaca College

A 6-metric composite of earnings, cost, and completion outcomes benchmarked against every reporting US college, not a ranking of teaching quality, campus life, or fit for any individual student. See the full methodology.

Earnings F
$32,435
10-year median former-student earnings
Net Price A
$6,618
Average annual cost after grants and aid
Completion Rate F
37.3%
Completion within 150% of normal time
Debt N/A
N/A
Median federal debt at graduation
Loan Repayment N/A
N/A
Borrowers repaying loans within 3 years
Retention N/A
N/A
First-year students returning for year two
Cuyamaca College vs. the national benchmark
EarningsNet PriceCompletionDebtRepaymentRetention

Each axis is the percentile score shown in the breakdown at left; the shape shows this school's overall profile at a glance.

10-yr median earnings

$32,435

Federal aid recipients only

Avg net price

$6,618

After grants and scholarships

150%-time completion

37.3%

Full-time, first-time cohort

150%-time completion vs portal median (57.1%) 37.3%

Less-than-four-year-institution cohort

College ROI Quadrant - Cuyamaca College vs peers

Cuyamaca College positioned by earnings vs cost Two-by-two quadrant chart: x-axis median earnings 10 years after enrollment, y-axis average net price after financial aid. Each dot is a college, colored by completion within 150% of normal time (garnet ≥65%, amber 45-64%, red <45%). Net price increases upward, earnings increase rightward, so: bottom-right = best value (low cost, high earnings); top-right = premium (high cost, high earnings); bottom-left = community college tier (low cost, modest earnings); top-left = cost challenge (high cost, low earnings). Currently plotting 8 colleges. Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard joined to Carnegie Classification. Cuyamaca College positioned by earnings vs c… Carnegie Classification: Associate's Associate's COST CHALLENGE PREMIUM COMMUNITY BEST VALUE $26K $57K Median Earnings 10 Years After Enrollment ($) $5K $32K Avg Net Price ($) Cuyamaca College (you are here): $32K earn · $7K net · 37% grad You are here - Cuyamaca College Cuesta College: $46K earn · $12K net · 46% grad Cuesta College San Jose City College: $46K earn · $17K net · 33% grad San Jose City Coll… Ohlone College: $54K earn · $11K net · 53% grad Ohlone College West Los Angeles College: $39K earn · $10K net · 24% grad West Los Angeles C… Las Positas College: $51K earn · $5K net · 51% grad Las Positas College Los Medanos College: $42K earn · $7K net · 40% grad Bellus Academy-El Cajon: $31K earn · $30K net · 73% grad Grad rate (4yr) ≥65% 45-64% <45%
Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard + Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education

Each dot is a college plotted by 10-year median earnings (x-axis) vs average net price (y-axis), colored by completion within 150% of normal time. Bottom-right = high earnings/lower price; top-left = lower earnings/higher price.

How Cuyamaca College ranks nationally

Where this school's former-student earnings fall within the full national distribution of every US college that reports to the College Scorecard, not just its peer set.

Cuyamaca College: former-student earnings vs. every US college

10-year median earnings, College Scorecard

$32,435 26th percentile higher than 26% of 5,103 US colleges

$0–$20,000: 169 US colleges (3%). Below this entry. $20,000–$40,000: 2,245 US colleges (44%). This entry sits in this band. $40,000–$60,000: 1,897 US colleges (37%). Above this entry. $60,000–$80,000: 606 US colleges (12%). Above this entry. $80,000–$100,000: 134 US colleges (3%). Above this entry. $100,000–$120,000: 39 US colleges (1%). Above this entry. $120,000–$140,000: 11 US colleges (0%). Above this entry. $140,000–$160,000: 2 US colleges (0%). Above this entry. This college $0 $160,000 every US college, bucketed by value

Each bar is a $20K-wide band; taller bars hold more US colleges. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard · Mar–Jul 2026 retrievals

Metric Cuyamaca College National rank Percentile
10-yr median earnings $32,435 #3800 of 5103 26th
Average net price $6,618 #589 of 5020 88th (lower is better)
150%-time completion 37.3% #3820 of 4858 21st
Undergraduate enrollment 7,177 #526 of 5462 90th

National ranks count every operating US college reporting each metric to the College Scorecard, separate from the earnings histogram above.

Quick Facts

7,177
Undergraduate enrollment
-
Acceptance rate
-
SAT average
37.3%
150%-time completion
$32,435
10-yr median earnings
-
First-year retention

How Cuyamaca College ranks in California

State rank among 493 reporting California colleges with College Scorecard data, a separate lens from the national distribution above.

Metric Cuyamaca College State rank Percentile
10-yr median earnings $32,435 #397 of 493 19th
Average net price $6,618 #65 of 495 87th (lower is better)
150%-time completion 37.3% #395 of 483 18th
Undergraduate enrollment 7,177 #108 of 553 80th

Highest former-student earnings in California

#School10-yr earningsNet price
1Samuel Merritt University$143,238-
2Harvey Mudd College$138,687$35,924
3California Institute of Technology$128,566$16,075
4Stanford University$124,080$13,807
5Los Angeles County College of Nursing and Allied Health$115,318-
6Gnomon$114,785$51,949
7Santa Clara University$109,183$50,062
8Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University$109,183-
9Touro University California$104,805-
10Claremont McKenna College$104,736$28,849
11West Coast University-Anaheim-Orange County$102,672$32,879
12West Coast University-Ontario$102,672$49,590
397Cuyamaca CollegeThis school$32,435$6,618

Costs & Financial Aid

Net price by family income at Cuyamaca College

Average annual net price after grants; Title IV recipient cohort by income bracket

net price / yr

What this shows Need-based aid pulls net price down at lower brackets at Cuyamaca College - compare the bar for your income band, not the overall average alone.

Source U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard As of Mar–Jul 2026 retrievals

Tuition & Net Price

In-State Tuition $1,346
Out-of-State Tuition $11,314
Average Net Price $6,618
27.4%
Pell Grant Rate
2.4%
Federal Loan Rate

Published tuition barely moved. What students actually pay rose +239.6%.

Between 2013 and 2023, Cuyamaca College's published in-state tuition went from $1,386 to $1,340 (-3.3%), but average net price for the reported Title IV-recipient cohort after grant aid, went from $1,822 to $6,187. The sticker price and the real price moved apart.

Published tuition
-3.3%
$1,386 → $1,340
Average net price
+239.6%
$1,822 → $6,187
Average net price, 2013–2023

11 reported years. Nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation.

2013: $1,8222014: $1,9812015: $2,5382016: $4,0802017: $3,4222018: $2,7922019: $2,4612020: $5,2562021: $5,2222022: $6,4892023: $6,187
2013 · $1,8222023 · $6,187

Over the same years, enrollment went -12.7% (7,778 → 6,788 students).

Source: U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, per-year fields (2013–2023). Net price is the average cost after grant and scholarship aid for federally-aided undergraduates.

Student Demographics

Race & ethnicity

Student body at a glance

56.6%
Female
61.0%
First Generation

Outcomes

$29,836
Median Earnings (6yr)
39.4%
Earning Over $25K

Outcomes & debt snapshot

Measure Cohort / horizon Value
Completion within 150% of normal time First-time, full-time 37.3%
Median earnings 6 years after entry $29,836
Median earnings 10 years after entry $32,435
Share earning over $25,000 Working, not enrolled 39.4%

Programs & Earnings

Program Credential Completers Median Earnings Median Debt
Human Development, Family Studies, and Related Services Associate's 37 - -
Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities Associate's 209 - -

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the admissions statistics for Cuyamaca College?
Cuyamaca College is a public institution in El Cajon, California. Undergraduate enrollment is 7,177 students.
How much do Cuyamaca College former students earn?
Federally aided former students at Cuyamaca College who were working and not enrolled had median earnings of $32,435 ten years after entry; the cohort is not limited to graduates. Six years after entry, the corresponding median is $29,836.
How much does Cuyamaca College cost?
The average net price at Cuyamaca College is $6,618. In-state tuition is $1,346 and out-of-state tuition is $11,314.
What is the graduation rate at Cuyamaca College?
Cuyamaca College has a 37.3% completion rate within 150% of normal program time at a less-than-four-year institution.

Sources & methodology

Public-college profiles lean on IPEDS enrollment and Scorecard Title-IV outcomes. State appropriations are outside this page; the figures below are the federal cohort measures only.

Every number is read live from the Mar–Jul 2026 Scorecard/IPEDS retrievals. Public institutions often enroll large Title-IV cohorts, so medians can be stable — still cohort averages, never a personal forecast. Read the full methodology for how the data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Where to go next from Cuyamaca College

Public-college Scorecard figures are historical Title-IV cohort averages — confirm current tuition, aid, and admissions rules with the institution before deciding.

Every figure on PlainCollege is rendered directly from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard data, no number is typed in by an editor. Public-institution profiles compile Scorecard Title-IV earnings, IPEDS enrollment/admissions, and Treasury linkage fields — no editor-typed figures. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error on this page. Review the public data changelog. Data current as of Mar–Jul 2026 retrievals.