San Diego Mesa College
San Diego, California
San Diego Mesa College is a public institution in San Diego, California enrolling 16,098 students, according to the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard.. Graduates earn a median of $45,120 ten years after enrollment, based on U.S. Treasury tax records linked to federal financial aid data. The average net price after financial aid is $5,814. This profile includes admissions data, graduation rates, program-level earnings, and cost breakdowns to help students compare colleges using official federal data.
What the IPEDS & College Scorecard Data Shows for San Diego Mesa College
San Diego Mesa College operates as a public institution located in San Diego, California (city: large), with a total reported enrollment of 16,098 students of which 30,204 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. San Diego Mesa College is categorized as “14” 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. Admission rate data is not currently reported for this institution. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $5,814, with published in-state tuition of $1,146 and a Pell grant recipient share of 15.7%. Median federal student debt at graduation is $4,725, drawn from the U.S. Treasury-matched College Scorecard file.
Outcomes reveal whether the investment pays back. The 4-year completion rate is 34.3%. Graduates earn a median of $45,120 ten years after enrolling, compared with $35,773 six years post-enrollment. Within three years of entering repayment, 99700.0% of borrowers are making progress on their federal loans, and 52.5% 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.
Quick Facts
Costs & Financial Aid
Tuition & Net Price
| In-State Tuition | $1,146 |
| Out-of-State Tuition | $10,002 |
| Average Net Price | $5,814 |
Net Price by Family Income
| $0 – $30,000 | $3,842 |
| $30,001 – $48,000 | $5,316 |
| $48,001 – $75,000 | $8,883 |
| Over $110,000 | $13,977 |
Student Demographics
Outcomes
Programs & Earnings
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the admissions statistics for San Diego Mesa College? ▼
How much do San Diego Mesa College graduates earn? ▼
How much does San Diego Mesa College cost? ▼
What is the graduation rate at San Diego Mesa College? ▼
Is San Diego Mesa College worth the student debt? ▼
Guides & Resources
Analyze the financial return of a degree
Which fields of study pay off fastest
Schools where graduates earn the most vs. cost
A data-driven framework for picking schools
How College Scorecard measures outcomes
Compare costs, outcomes, and career paths
Related Colleges
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Related Data Sources
Research San Diego, California with related datasets
Data Sources
Data as of 2024-25 academic year. Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard.
Primary: U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard. Data reflects most recent available year.
Institutional characteristics: IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System) institutional characteristics file.
Earnings: Median earnings 6 and 10 years after enrollment, from U.S. Treasury tax records linked to federal student aid data.
Program data: Credential-level earnings from the College Scorecard Field of Study dataset.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
All federal data sources used on this page
- NCES IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System) — enrollment, completions, finance, faculty for every U.S. college. nces.ed.gov/ipeds
- College Scorecard — U.S. Dept of Education outcomes data — earnings, debt, completion. collegescorecard.ed.gov
- NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) — K-12 → college transition data. nces.ed.gov/ccd
- NSC StudentTracker — enrollment and completion outcomes by institution. nscresearchcenter.org
- Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections — occupation outlook by education level. bls.gov/emp
- U.S. Census Bureau ACS — educational attainment + degree population. census.gov/programs-surveys/acs
Earnings data sourced from IRS records via the U.S. Treasury–Department of Education matching used by the College Scorecard.