Public · Community college

Modesto Junior College

Modesto, California · Midsize city

9%
Transfer rate
$2,818
Avg net price
30%
Grad / completion
$42,368
Median earnings

Modesto Junior College is a public associate-granting institution in Modesto, California (midsize city setting), enrolling 15,109 undergraduates. It is a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI). Admission is open to all applicants.

PublicLarge · 15,109 undergradsMidsize cityCCCAA

About Modesto, California

Modesto is the county seat of and the largest city in Stanislaus County, California, United States. The City of Modesto was originally a stop on the railroad connecting Sacramento to Los Angeles, built by Central Pacific Railroad. The Rockabilly genre of music originated in Modesto with the formation of Maddox Brothers & Rose on KTRB Radio in 1937. (Wikipedia)

Setting
Midsize city
Highest degree offered
Bachelor's
Nearest big city
26 miles to Stockton, CA
To the ocean
34 miles
Nearest airport
21 miles to Stockton Metropolitan (SCK)

How Modesto Junior College compares

Graduation rate30%

Higher than 12% · #359 of 382 in California

First-year retention71%

Higher than 47%

Earnings, 10 years after entry$42,368

Higher than 77% · #100 of 326 in California

Average net price$2,818

Cheaper than 97% · #17 cheapest of 377 in California

Student–faculty ratio32 : 1

Lower than 4%

Undergraduate enrollment15,109

Larger than 98%

Percentiles compare Modesto Junior College with the nation's 3,519 two-year and certificate schools, among schools reporting each statistic. State ranks count two-year and certificate schools in California.

Student body

Undergraduates by gender

15,109undergrads
  • Women9,02660%
  • Men6,08340%

Undergraduates by race / ethnicity

  • White27%
  • Black3.4%
  • Hispanic58%
  • Asian6.1%
  • Other or multiracial4.8%

Graduate gender splits aren't published in this data, so the gender chart covers undergraduates only.

By the numbers

Undergraduate enrollment
15,109
Student–faculty ratio
32 : 1
Pell Grant recipients
32%
First-generation students
60%
Students over 25
29%
Median family income
$16,410
Avg faculty salary (academic year)
$98,559
Endowment
$7,830,895

Colleges don't publish true class-size data; student–faculty ratio (IPEDS) is the closest public measure of it.

Where students come from

Home state of the 3,542 first-year students who entered in fall 2023.

  • From California98%
  • Other U.S. states1.4%

Most first-years stay in state — Modesto Junior College draws overwhelmingly from California.

1% came from outside the U.S. Out-of-state students usually pay a higher tuition rate at public schools — check the cost card above for your bracket. Source: IPEDS residence & migration, fall 2023 entering class.

Cost

In-state tuition
$1,282
Out-of-state tuition
$9,264
Room & board
Books & supplies
$1,062
Total cost of attendance
$11,487
Average net price
$2,818

Net price is the total cost minus grants and scholarships — what students actually pay. It varies sharply by family income; see the breakdown below.

Outcomes

Graduated (within 6 years)
30%
Graduated on time (4 years)
0%
First-year retention
71%
Transferred to another college
9%
Median earnings, 6 years after entry
$34,568
Median earnings, 10 years after entry
$42,368
Median debt at graduation
Students with federal loans
0%

About 30% of students who finish here need more than four years — each extra year adds roughly another year of tuition and living costs.

Graduating on time

By student background (4 years)

All students
0%
First-generation
6%

When these bars run close together, students from every background tend to finish at similar rates — a sign the school supports the ~30% who are first-gen or low-income.

Campus life & athletics

On-campus housing
No
Application fee
Free
Athletics
CCCAA
Varsity athletes
426 (284 men · 142 women)

Housing and fees: IPEDS 2023–24. Athletics rosters: Equity in Athletics data, 2024–25. Dorm capacity can include graduate and family housing, so the share of undergrads can top 100%.

Varsity sports (13)

Track and Field (Outdoor)77
Football70
Soccer59
Baseball39
Swimming25
Water Polo25
Basketball24
Cross Country23
Wrestling21
Softball19
Tennis18
Golf15
Volleyball11

Athlete counts per sport, Equity in Athletics data, 2024–25.

Campus safety

Safety grade
A
Reported offenses per 1,000 students
0.1 / year
Violent offenses (2022–2024)
1
Property offenses (2022–2024)
3

On-campus criminal offenses reported under the Clery Act, 2022–2024, across 2 campuses (18,258 students). Counts reflect reports, not convictions — schools with strong reporting cultures often show more, so a higher count doesn't simply mean a more dangerous campus.

Reported offenses in an average year

The same 2022–2024 Clery Act reports, divided down to one year.

1.3reported offenses a year
0.3 violent a year1.0 property a year

By offense type, per year

Motor vehicle theft
0.7
Fondling
0.3
Burglary
0.3

Averages, not a forecast — a single year can run well above or below this. Bars are scaled against this campus's most-reported offense, so they compare types here rather than against other schools.

What you'll actually pay, by family income

Average net price (total cost minus grants and scholarships) paid by aided students in each family-income band.

< $30k
$1,658
$30–48k
$1,623
$48–75k
$4,809
$75–110k
$6,508
$110k+
$8,681

College Scorecard / IPEDS, most recent year. Family income is total household income; net price covers tuition, fees, room, board and supplies after grant aid, for students receiving federal aid.

Four-year (or more) true cost

Net price for your family's income, projected across the time it actually takes students here to graduate.

Est. total to a degree
$26,450

$4,809/year × about 5.5 years — most students here don't finish in exactly four, and each extra term adds cost. A planning estimate from net-price and graduation-timing data, not a bill.

Does the school pay you to attend?

Grant aid from the school's own funds — the discount off sticker, on top of any federal or state help.

4%
of first-years get a grant from the school
$1,320
average award, among those who get one

Modest institutional aid: 4% of freshmen get a grant from the school, averaging $1,320. Most of what lowers the price here is federal or state money, not the school's own funds.

Blends need-based and merit aid — IPEDS doesn't split the two, so a high number can mean generous merit scholarships, deep need-based aid, or both. Figures cover 1,115 full-time first-year undergraduates, 2022–23. Source: IPEDS Student Financial Aid.

Is it worth it?

A rough return-on-investment read from what graduates earn versus what they borrow.

Median earnings (10 years)
$42,368
Typical debt at graduation
Debt vs. one year's pay
Out-earn a HS grad
40%
Weigh it value

The payoff is less clear-cut here — weigh the debt against the earnings and your intended field before borrowing heavily.

Earnings are the College Scorecard median for former students (working, not enrolled) 10 years after entry — not a guarantee, and they vary a lot by major. Debt is the median federal loan balance at graduation.

The pay gap here

Median earnings 10 years after entry, split by gender.

Women
$36,807
Men
$51,147

Men out-earn women by $14,340 (39%) a decade out.

Federal figures for former students working and not enrolled, 10 years after they first entered. A gap this wide usually reflects which majors men and women here tend to choose — not different pay for the same job.

Campus climate

Summer high
95°F
Winter low
39°F
Annual rain
12.3″

Average temperature

HighLow
30°70°100°JFMAMJJASOND

Average precipitation (inches)

0.01.32.6JFMAMJJASOND

NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals, Modesto City CO AP, CA US station (3.7 mi from campus).

Median earnings of this school's own graduates 1 and 5 years after finishing each program, and median federal-loan debt at completion (College Scorecard). Small programs are privacy-suppressed (—). Click a major to compare colleges nationally.

Colleges similar to Modesto Junior College

Schools with a comparable profile — size, selectivity, cost, and graduate outcomes. Compare Modesto Junior College side by side →

Colleges near Modesto Junior College

Source: US Department of Education College Scorecard (most recent cohorts), IPEDS institutional characteristics, Equity in Athletics (EADA) data, Clery Act Campus Safety and Security data, and NOAA US Climate Normals. Distances are straight-line from campus coordinates. Percentiles compare schools of the same level (four-year vs. two-year) that report each statistic.