-17%
Public associate's-predominant peer
10-year earnings at Cerro Coso Community College are 17% below the public associate's-predominant peer median ($35.0k vs $42.3k).
California · Public · Predominantly associate's
Cerro Coso Community College
Ridgecrest, California. 3,496 undergraduate students. 47 programs in the federal Field-of-Study dataset.
ANOMALY ENGINE · NOTABLE SIGNALS
What the data flags at Cerro Coso Community College
Short-arc shifts (recent 3-year window), peer outliers, earnings trend breaks, completion drops, enrollment cliffs, and debt-to-earnings warnings — surfaced deterministically from the federal record. Multi-decade shifts are reported separately in the Long Arc section, since 25-year tuition drift isn't really an anomaly.
-56%
First-year retention
First-year retention at Cerro Coso Community College fell 56% between 2021 and 2024 (62.7% → 27.4%).
+21%
Out-of-state tuition
Out-of-state tuition at Cerro Coso Community College rose 21% between 2021 and 2024 ($9.3k → $11.3k).
-12%
150%-time completion
150%-time completion at Cerro Coso Community College fell 12% between 2007 and 2010 (18.6% → 16.4%).
SECTION 01 · OUTCOMES SNAPSHOT
The numbers, vs. California
Each tile compares this institution to the California median for the same metric. Sub-line shows the comparison value, not an interpretation. Sparklines trace the federally available history.
$34,963+19% · 6→10y
California median $42,588$29,462
Treasury earnings · 6y post-entry26.1%-55% · '97→'10
California median 61.3%$5,500+31% · '97→'10
At program completion3,496+104% · '96→'10
latest IPEDS50.3%-54% · '04→'24
first-time, full-time—
latest cohort$1,384+319% · '00→'24
out-of-state $10,264SECTION 02 · EARNINGS HORIZONS
How earnings spread, 4 to 10 years after entry
Treasury tax-record earnings for federally aided students who first enrolled at this institution. Each point is a horizon from the most-recent vintage. Single median per horizon (no p25/p75 publishing).
Earnings widen with time post-entry. Selection: federal-aid recipients only — not all graduates.Methodology →
SECTION 03 · DEBT-TO-EARNINGS
What loans cost relative to earnings
Annual debt service as a share of median earnings 10 years after entry, computed under federal Direct loan terms (10-year fixed at 6%). The 8% line is the gainful-employment threshold from federal regulation; above 12% has historically been considered “failing” under prior rule cycles.
Institution-wide
2.1%Median federal debt $5,500 amortized over 10 years vs. median earnings $34,963 (10y after entry).
SECTION 04 · LONG ARC
Ten-plus year arc
Federally available history. Coverage varies by metric — IPEDS publishes some series only after 2009 and others only before.
Undergraduate enrollment.
150%-time completion rate.
Median federal student debt at exit.
-55%
Cerro Coso Community College · completion · 150% fell
36.2% → 16.4%
+38%
Cerro Coso Community College · completion · 100% rose
3.4% → 4.7%
-54%
Cerro Coso Community College · retention fell
59.0% → 27.4%
+104%
Cerro Coso Community College · undergrad enrollment rose
2,819 → 5,756
+105%
Cerro Coso Community College · in-state tuition rose
$330 → $1,384
+189%
Cerro Coso Community College · out-of-state tuition rose
$3,900 → $11,254
+31%
Cerro Coso Community College · median debt rose
$2,625 → $3,443
-100%
Cerro Coso Community College · cohort default rate fell
17.8% → 0.0%
+35%
Cerro Coso Community College · pell share rose
11.5% → 15.5%
+38%
Cerro Coso Community College · earnings_median_8yr rose
$25,500 → $35,160
+46%
Cerro Coso Community College · earnings_median_6yr rose
$20,200 → $29,462
SECTION 07 · SIMILAR INSTITUTIONS
Same sector and degree mix in California
Picked by Carnegie sector × predominant credential level. These are not rankings — just nearest-neighbour surfaces for comparison.
CAUSAL DISCIPLINE
“Cerro Coso Community College graduates earn $X” — not “Cerro Coso Community College makes you earn $X”
Median earnings describe what cohorts earned. They do not describe what attending Cerro Coso Community College caused. Selection effects (who admits, who enrolls, who completes) are real. We publish federal data with strict descriptive phrasing — and link the methodology where you can read about the limitations directly.