10-yr median earnings
$43,845
Federal aid recipients only
Public · Oceanside, California
MiraCosta College
MiraCosta College is a public institution in Oceanside, 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.
- $7,339
- Avg net price / yr
- $43,845
- 10-yr median earnings
- 41.1%
- 150%-time completion
The verdict
MiraCosta College posts above-median former-student earnings.
According to the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard.
- Top 42%
- former-student earnings, US
- 41.1%
- 150%-time completion
- +15%
- earnings, 6→10 yrs
Suburb: Large
Carnegie: Bacc/Assoc's
Institution data retrieved July 2026; field-of-study data retrieved March 2026.
How to read this MiraCosta 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 ("Baccalaureate/Associate's Colleges: Associate's Dominant"), 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
C+
College Value Score
61/100
MiraCosta 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 C
$43,845
10-year median former-student earnings
Net Price A
$7,339
Average annual cost after grants and aid
Completion Rate F
41.1%
Completion within 150% of normal time
Debt B+
$9,000
Median federal debt at graduation
Loan Repayment D
55.8%
Borrowers repaying loans within 3 years
Retention A
90.9%
First-year students returning for year two
Each axis is the percentile score shown in the breakdown at left; the shape shows this school's overall profile at a glance.
Avg net price
$7,339
After grants and scholarships
150%-time completion
41.1%
Full-time, first-time cohort
150%-time completion vs portal median (57.1%) 41.1%
Four-year-institution cohort
College ROI Quadrant - MiraCosta College vs peers
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 MiraCosta 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.
MiraCosta College: former-student earnings vs. every US college
10-year median earnings, College Scorecard
$43,845 Top 42% higher than 58% of 5,103 US colleges
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 | MiraCosta College | National rank | Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-yr median earnings | $43,845 | #2140 of 5103 | 58th |
| Average net price | $7,339 | #699 of 5020 | 86th (lower is better) |
| 150%-time completion | 41.1% | #3596 of 4858 | 26th |
| Undergraduate enrollment | 10,278 | #334 of 5462 | 94th |
National ranks count every operating US college reporting each metric to the College Scorecard, separate from the earnings histogram above.
Quick Facts
10,278
Undergraduate enrollment
-
Acceptance rate
-
SAT average
41.1%
150%-time completion
$43,845
10-yr median earnings
90.9%
First-year retention
How MiraCosta College ranks in California
State rank among 493 reporting California colleges with College Scorecard data, a separate lens from the national distribution above.
| Metric | MiraCosta College | State rank | Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-yr median earnings | $43,845 | #215 of 493 | 56th |
| Average net price | $7,339 | #79 of 495 | 84th (lower is better) |
| 150%-time completion | 41.1% | #381 of 483 | 21st |
| Undergraduate enrollment | 10,278 | #74 of 553 | 87th |
Highest former-student earnings in California
| # | School | 10-yr earnings | Net price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Samuel Merritt University | $143,238 | - |
| 2 | Harvey Mudd College | $138,687 | $35,924 |
| 3 | California Institute of Technology | $128,566 | $16,075 |
| 4 | Stanford University | $124,080 | $13,807 |
| 5 | Los Angeles County College of Nursing and Allied Health | $115,318 | - |
| 6 | Gnomon | $114,785 | $51,949 |
| 7 | Santa Clara University | $109,183 | $50,062 |
| 8 | Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University | $109,183 | - |
| 9 | Touro University California | $104,805 | - |
| 10 | Claremont McKenna College | $104,736 | $28,849 |
| 11 | West Coast University-Anaheim-Orange County | $102,672 | $32,879 |
| 12 | West Coast University-Ontario | $102,672 | $49,590 |
| 214 | MiraCosta CollegeThis school | $43,845 | $7,339 |
Costs & Financial Aid
Net price by family income at MiraCosta College
Average annual net price after grants; Title IV recipient cohort by income bracket
- $0 – $30k
$0 – $30k
$6,535 net price / yr
- $30k – $48k
$30k – $48k
$5,560 net price / yr
- $48k – $75k
$48k – $75k
$9,222 net price / yr
- $110k+
$110k+
$12,855 net price / yr
What this shows Need-based aid pulls net price down at lower brackets at MiraCosta College - compare the bar for your income band, not the overall average alone.
Tuition & Net Price
| In-State Tuition | $1,158 |
| Out-of-State Tuition | $9,750 |
| Average Net Price | $7,339 |
27.4%
Pell Grant Rate
2.3%
Federal Loan Rate
$9,000
Median Debt
$95/mo
Monthly Payment
Net price at MiraCosta College swings rather than trends
Across 11 reported years between 2013 and 2023, the average net price here has ranged from $1,682 to $7,178 without settling into a rise or a fall. Comparing only the first and last years would read as +108.0%, but the years in between do not follow that line, so the honest summary is the range rather than a trend. Budget against the upper end, not the average.
Lowest year
$1,682
Highest year
$7,178
Most recent (2023)
$7,178
11 reported years. Nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation.
2013 · $3,4512023 · $7,178
Over the same years, enrollment went -24.4% (13,846 → 10,474 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
61.1%
Female
51.0%
First Generation
Outcomes
90.9%
Retention Rate
$37,965
Median Earnings (6yr)
42.8%
Earning Over $25K
55.8%
Loan Repayment, Completers (3yr)
Outcomes & debt snapshot
| Measure | Cohort / horizon | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Completion within 150% of normal time | First-time, full-time | 41.1% |
| First-year retention | First-time, full-time freshmen | 90.9% |
| Median earnings | 6 years after entry | $37,965 |
| Median earnings | 10 years after entry | $43,845 |
| Share earning over $25,000 | Working, not enrolled | 42.8% |
| Loan repayment rate | Completers, 3 years after leaving | 55.8% |
| Median federal student debt | At completion | $9,000 |
| Estimated monthly payment | Standard 10-year plan | $95/mo |
Programs & Earnings
| Program | Credential | Completers | Median Earnings | Median Debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities | Associate's | 497 | - | - |
| Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing | Associate's | 43 | - | - |
Explore Data-Matched Colleges
Matches use Scorecard measures among reporting colleges — not state-system recommendations or geographic proximity.
Similar Enrollment and Sector
Other Public institutions closest in reported enrollment, preferring the same Carnegie classification.
Similar Reported Net Price
Other Public institutions with the nearest reported average net price.
Pitt Community College
Winterville, NC
$7,337 net price · $2 apart
Union County Vocational Technical School
Scotch Plains, NJ
$7,361 net price · $22 apart
New Mexico State University-Alamogordo
Alamogordo, NM
$7,369 net price · $30 apart
Hudson County Community College
Jersey City, NJ
$7,307 net price · $32 apart
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the admissions statistics for MiraCosta College? ▼
MiraCosta College is a public institution in Oceanside, California. Undergraduate enrollment is 10,278 students.
How much do MiraCosta College former students earn? ▼
Federally aided former students at MiraCosta College who were working and not enrolled had median earnings of $43,845 ten years after entry; the cohort is not limited to graduates. Six years after entry, the corresponding median is $37,965.
How much does MiraCosta College cost? ▼
The average net price at MiraCosta College is $7,339. In-state tuition is $1,158 and out-of-state tuition is $9,750. Median student debt at graduation is $9,000.
What is the graduation rate at MiraCosta College? ▼
MiraCosta College has a 41.1% completion rate within 150% of normal time at a four-year institution (typically six years for a bachelor’s program). The first-year retention rate is 90.9%.
Is MiraCosta College worth the student debt? ▼
The median student debt at MiraCosta College is $9,000, while former students earn a median of $43,845 ten years after enrollment. That debt represents about 21% of those annual earnings. Among borrowers who completed their program, 55.8% are repaying their loans within 3 years. Estimated monthly loan payment is $95.
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.
- College Scorecard, U.S. Department of Education - former-student earnings, cost & completion (collegescorecard.ed.gov).
- IPEDS, National Center for Education Statistics - enrollment, admissions, Carnegie class & demographics (nces.ed.gov/ipeds).
- U.S. Treasury / IRS earnings linkage - median earnings 6 & 10 years after enrollment for federal-aid recipients (irs.gov).
- College Scorecard, Field of Study - program-level (credential) earnings & debt (collegescorecard.ed.gov).
- Federal Student Aid (Title IV / NSLDS) - U.S. Department of Education - net price, student debt & aid-recipient repayment outcomes (studentaid.gov).
Where to go next from MiraCosta College
- Compare MiraCosta College against schools with similar outcomes at a lower average net price.Find similar schools that cost less
- Browse every reporting college in California side by side.Browse California
- See how fields of study differ on former-student earnings and debt.Explore programs
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.