Cabrillo College

Overview

Academics & Admissions

Is It Hard to Get Into Cabrillo College? Acceptance Rate & Requirements

Based in Aptos, California, Cabrillo College enrolls students across a range of programs. The graduation rate is roughly 38%.

Retention Rate

73%

Full-Time Faculty

45%

Faculty Salary (mo)

$9,587

Student–Faculty Ratio

16:1

Diversity Index

0.60

First-Gen Students

51%

Cost & Financial Aid

How Much Does It Cost to Attend Cabrillo College? Tuition, Net Price & Aid

Published tuition at Cabrillo College is $9,862, but few families pay that. The number to watch is net price, what students actually pay each year after federal grants and institutional scholarships. Here it averages about $15,843. Students from families earning under $30,000 typically pay closer to $14,656 after need-based grants. The median graduate leaves with about $14,380 in federal student loans.

In-State Tuition

$1,270

Out-of-State

$9,862

Avg Net Price

$15,843

Median Debt

$14,380

Pell Grant Rate

24%

Federal Loan Rate

1%

Students Like You

Tell us a little about yourself to see what students like you have typically experienced at Cabrillo College — the net price for your income, your admission odds, and the outcomes that follow. These are patterns from federal data, not predictions.

Graduate Outcomes

Is Cabrillo College Worth It? Graduate Earnings & ROI

Ten years out, alumni of Cabrillo College report median earnings of $44,114, a figure worth comparing against the cost of attendance before enrolling.

6 Years After Entry

$34,990

8 Years

$39,618

10 Years

$44,114

Debt-to-Earnings

0.33x

Earning > $25K

45%

Social Mobility

Data: Raj Chetty's Mobility Report Card · 30M+ anonymized tax records

Does Cabrillo College Drive Upward Mobility? Economic Mobility & Low-Income Outcomes

Cabrillo College is a genuine engine of upward mobility. Its mobility rate, the share of students who start in the bottom income quintile and climb to the top, is 1.75%, well above the typical college. Access is a real strength here. Roughly 14.2% of students come from families in the bottom income quintile, a high share that gives low-income students a real foothold. Among bottom-quintile students who attend, roughly 12.3% go on to reach the top of the income ladder. The median family income of students sits near $70,200, a snapshot of the campus's socioeconomic mix.

Mobility Rate

1.75%

Bottom 20% → Top 20%

Success Rate

12.3%

If bottom 20% get in

From Bottom 20%

14.2%

Share of students

Parent Median Income

$95,377

today's $ (2015 cohort data)

Social Capital

Data: Opportunity Insights Social Capital Atlas

How Connected Is Cabrillo College? Social Capital & Cross-Class Networks

Social capital, the web of cross-class friendships that researchers link to long-run upward mobility, runs high at Cabrillo College. Its economic connectedness score is 1.16, where about 1.0 is the national norm. Its friending bias sits near the middle of the range (0.11). Around 6% of students take part in civic and volunteering activity.

Economic Connectedness

1.16

Cross-class friendships

Friending Bias

0.11

Lower = more inclusive

Volunteering Rate

5.9%

Support Ratio

0.98

Community support

Innovation & Knowledge Creation

Patents, inventors, and research influence · Opportunity Insights & Times Higher Education

Cabrillo College produces inventors at a measurable rate, with 22 patents tied to its graduates.

Inventor Rate

0.20%

Top 77% nationally

Patents Produced

22

Linked to graduates

Patent Citations

120

Downstream influence

Inventors From Low-Income

0.19%

Bottom-20% families

Institutional Finances

Data: NCES IPEDS

Investment Income

$28,353

Top Programs

The fields Cabrillo College awards the most degrees in, by share of completions. Where federal field-of-study data exists, we show what graduates in that major earned early in their careers. Each links to its degree guide — or see what someone with your income, scores, and major would pay and earn here in the Students Like You simulator.

• Humanities 31%
• Business & Marketing 8% $43,576 early-career
• Health Professions 7% $87,493 early-career
• Social Sciences 6%
• Visual & Performing Arts 5%
• Psychology 3%
• Culinary & Personal Services 3%
• Computer Science & IT 3%

Early-career median earnings by major (typically 1–2 years after completion, bachelor's level where available), in today's dollars (CPI-adjusted). Source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard field of study. Distinct from the school-wide 10-year median; suppressed for small programs.