Analysis: California community colleges offer quick return on tuition investment

Students who finish degrees or certificates at dozens of California community colleges quickly earn back their tuition investment within a year or less, according to a new analysis released Wednesday. But graduates from many other schools, especially more expensive private for-profit trade schools, struggle to do the same and in some cases never recoup their costs. 

The study by the College Futures Foundation and the HEA Group measured the net price of each college on average after financial aid and the earnings of graduates over a decade. Then it evaluated how long it takes students to recoup their educational costs. It looked at 327 two-year and certificate-granting institutions in California, including the state’s 115 brick-and-mortar community colleges as well as many for-profit institutions and private nonprofits. 

In the best examples, students who finish relatively low-cost programs at 26 California community colleges earn back their education costs at new jobs in six months or less, according to the analysis. Skyline College in San Bruno tops the rankings, followed by three campuses in San Diego: San Diego Miramar, San Diego Mesa and San Diego City.  

The top performing colleges “appear to have strong engagement with employers and the regional workforce infrastructure,” said Eloy Ortiz Oakley, president of the College Futures Foundation and former chancellor of the state’s community college system. The San Diego colleges are one example of that, he said, noting they are “an integral part of the San Diego Workforce Partnership.”

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