10-yr median earnings
$75,951
Federal aid recipients only
Private Nonprofit · Los Angeles, California
Occidental College
Occidental College is a private nonprofit institution in Los Angeles, California. as a private nonprofit, published Scorecard outcomes cover federal-aid recipients at this campus — endowment and sticker price sit outside those cohort fields.
- $75,951
- 10-yr median earnings
- 44.2%
- Acceptance rate
- $38,263
- Avg net price / yr
- 83.0%
- 150%-time completion
The verdict
Occidental College pairs top-5% former-student earnings with a selective admit.
According to the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard.
- Top 5%
- former-student earnings, US
- 44.2%
- acceptance rate
- 83.0%
- 150%-time completion
- +45%
- earnings, 6→10 yrs
City: Large
Carnegie: Bacc: A&S
Institution data retrieved July 2026; field-of-study data retrieved March 2026.
How to read this Occidental 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 Colleges: Arts & Sciences Focus"), 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
63/100
Occidental 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 A+
$75,951
10-year median former-student earnings
Net Price F
$38,263
Average annual cost after grants and aid
Completion Rate A
83.0%
Completion within 150% of normal time
Debt F
$23,000
Median federal debt at graduation
Loan Repayment A+
89.4%
Borrowers repaying loans within 3 years
Retention A-
89.8%
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
$38,263
After grants and scholarships
150%-time completion
83.0%
Full-time, first-time cohort
150%-time completion vs portal median (57.1%) 83.0%
Four-year-institution cohort
College ROI Quadrant - Occidental 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 Occidental 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.
Occidental College: former-student earnings vs. every US college
10-year median earnings, College Scorecard
$75,951 Top 5% higher than 95% 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 | Occidental College | National rank | Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-yr median earnings | $75,951 | #253 of 5103 | 95th |
| Average net price | $38,263 | #4841 of 5020 | 4th (lower is better) |
| 150%-time completion | 83.0% | #557 of 4858 | 89th |
| Undergraduate enrollment | 1,877 | #1536 of 5462 | 72nd |
National ranks count every operating US college reporting each metric to the College Scorecard, separate from the earnings histogram above.
Quick Facts
1,877
Undergraduate enrollment
44.2%
Acceptance rate
1,452
SAT average
83.0%
150%-time completion
$75,951
10-yr median earnings
89.8%
First-year retention
How Occidental College ranks in California
State rank among 493 reporting California colleges with College Scorecard data, a separate lens from the national distribution above.
| Metric | Occidental College | State rank | Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-yr median earnings | $75,951 | #50 of 493 | 90th |
| Average net price | $38,263 | #455 of 495 | 8th (lower is better) |
| 150%-time completion | 83.0% | #79 of 483 | 84th |
| Undergraduate enrollment | 1,877 | #183 of 553 | 67th |
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 |
| 50 | Occidental CollegeThis school | $75,951 | $38,263 |
Admissions
| Admission Rate | 44.2% |
| SAT Average | 1,452 |
| SAT Math (25th-75th) | 690 – 770 |
| SAT Reading (25th-75th) | 690 – 750 |
| ACT Average | 32 |
| ACT (25th-75th) | 31 – 34 |
Costs & Financial Aid
Net price by family income at Occidental College
Average annual net price after grants; Title IV recipient cohort by income bracket
- $0 – $30k $20,705
$0 – $30k
$20,705 net price / yr
- $30k – $48k $17,655
$30k – $48k
$17,655 net price / yr
- $48k – $75k $21,468
$48k – $75k
$21,468 net price / yr
- $110k+
$110k+
$54,959 net price / yr
What this shows Need-based aid pulls net price down at lower brackets at Occidental College - compare the bar for your income band, not the overall average alone.
Tuition & Net Price
| In-State Tuition | $66,274 |
| Out-of-State Tuition | $66,274 |
| Average Net Price | $38,263 |
16.6%
Pell Grant Rate
37.1%
Federal Loan Rate
$23,000
Median Debt
$244/mo
Monthly Payment
What students pay at Occidental College rose +61.2% since 2013
Average net price for the reported Title IV-recipient cohort went from $24,392 in 2013 to $39,329 in 2023, a rise of $14,937 in nominal dollars. Across the 4,315 colleges measured over the same 2013–2023 span, the median change was +14.6%.
11 reported years. Nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation.
2013 · $24,3922023 · $39,329
Over the same years, enrollment went -9.1% (2,028 → 1,844 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
58.5%
Female
17.6%
First Generation
Outcomes
89.8%
Retention Rate
$52,209
Median Earnings (6yr)
67.7%
Earning Over $25K
89.4%
Loan Repayment, Completers (3yr)
Outcomes & debt snapshot
| Measure | Cohort / horizon | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Completion within 150% of normal time | First-time, full-time | 83.0% |
| First-year retention | First-time, full-time freshmen | 89.8% |
| Median earnings | 6 years after entry | $52,209 |
| Median earnings | 10 years after entry | $75,951 |
| Share earning over $25,000 | Working, not enrolled | 67.7% |
| Loan repayment rate | Completers, 3 years after leaving | 89.4% |
| Median federal student debt | At completion | $23,000 |
| Estimated monthly payment | Standard 10-year plan | $244/mo |
Programs & Earnings
Top programs at Occidental College by completer earnings
Median earnings of program completers, College Scorecard field-of-study file
- Economics
Economics
$103,164 median earnings
- Mathematics
Mathematics
$88,080 median earnings
- Cognitive Science
Cognitive Science
$78,782 median earnings
- Political Science and Gove…
Political Science and Government
$72,441 median earnings
- Romance Languages, Literat…
Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics
$71,779 median earnings
- International Relations an…
International Relations and National Security Studies
$70,394 median earnings
- Biology, General
Biology, General
$59,985 median earnings
- Natural Resources Conserva…
Natural Resources Conservation and Research
$59,542 median earnings
What this shows The highest-earning programs at a school are not necessarily its most popular ones - a small specialized program can post strong median earnings without reflecting the outcome most students here actually see.
| Program | Credential | Completers | Median Earnings | Median Debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Economics | Bachelor's | 85 | $103,164 | $23,000 |
| Mathematics | Bachelor's | 11 | $88,080 | - |
| Cognitive Science | Bachelor's | 23 | $78,782 | - |
| Political Science and Government | Bachelor's | 22 | $72,441 | $25,700 |
| Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics | Bachelor's | 8 | $71,779 | - |
| International Relations and National Security Studies | Bachelor's | 53 | $70,394 | $19,275 |
| Biology, General | Bachelor's | 40 | $59,985 | $26,272 |
| Natural Resources Conservation and Research | Bachelor's | 19 | $59,542 | - |
| Sociology | Bachelor's | 9 | $58,598 | $21,250 |
| Psychology, General | Bachelor's | - | $56,800 | $19,764 |
| Area Studies | Bachelor's | 10 | - | - |
| Computer Science | Bachelor's | 36 | - | $22,067 |
| English Language and Literature, General | Bachelor's | 10 | - | - |
| Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology | Bachelor's | 20 | - | $25,978 |
| Film/Video and Photographic Arts | Bachelor's | 22 | - | $20,500 |
Nearby Schools
Glendale Community College
Glendale, CA
10,509 students
Abraham Lincoln University
Glendale, CA
25 students
Los Angeles County College of Nursing and Allied Health
Los Angeles, CA
204 students
American Medical Sciences Center
Glendale, CA
365 students
North-West College-Glendale
Glendale, CA
71 students
Explore Data-Matched Colleges
Independent Scorecard matches among reporting colleges — not recommendations from the institution or a counselor.
Similar Enrollment and Sector
Other Private Nonprofit institutions closest in reported enrollment, preferring the same Carnegie classification.
Similar Reported Net Price
Other Private Nonprofit institutions with the nearest reported average net price.
Similar 2013–2023 Net-Price Trend
Same-sector institutions with the same direction and nearest fitted annual change; only series with R² of at least 0.40 qualify.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the acceptance rate at Occidental College? ▼
Occidental College is a private nonprofit institution in Los Angeles, California. The acceptance rate is 44.2%. The average SAT score is 1,452. Undergraduate enrollment is 1,877 students.
How much do Occidental College former students earn? ▼
Federally aided former students at Occidental College who were working and not enrolled had median earnings of $75,951 ten years after entry; the cohort is not limited to graduates. Six years after entry, the corresponding median is $52,209.
How much does Occidental College cost? ▼
The average net price at Occidental College is $38,263. In-state tuition is $66,274 and out-of-state tuition is $66,274. Median student debt at graduation is $23,000.
What is the graduation rate at Occidental College? ▼
Occidental College has a 83.0% 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 89.8%.
Is Occidental College worth the student debt? ▼
The median student debt at Occidental College is $23,000, while former students earn a median of $75,951 ten years after enrollment. That debt represents about 30% of those annual earnings. Among borrowers who completed their program, 89.4% are repaying their loans within 3 years. Estimated monthly loan payment is $244.
Sources & methodology
Private-nonprofit profiles emphasize Scorecard cost-after-aid and completion alongside IPEDS Carnegie class. Endowment, gifts, and sticker price are not Scorecard fields on this page.
Figures are the Mar–Jul 2026 federal retrievals. Nonprofit campuses vary widely in aid practice — net price here is the Title-IV-recipient cohort average, not an individual award letter. 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 Occidental College
- Compare Occidental 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
Nonprofit Scorecard medians describe federal-aid recipients who were working and not enrolled — they are not sticker-price ROI and not advice.
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. Private-nonprofit profiles compile Scorecard net-price and earnings cohorts with IPEDS structure 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.