Public · Community college

Santa Ana College

Santa Ana, California · Large city

7%
Transfer rate
$3,133
Avg net price
31%
Grad / completion
$43,552
Median earnings

Santa Ana College is a public certificate-granting institution in Santa Ana, California (large city setting), enrolling 22,485 undergraduates. It is a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI). Admission is open to all applicants.

PublicLarge · 22,485 undergradsLarge cityCCCAANear the coast

About Santa Ana, California

Santa Ana is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, California, United States. Members of the Tongva and Juaneño/Luiseño are indigenous to the area. The Tongva called the Santa Ana area "Hotuuk". The village of Pajbenga was located at modern day Santa Ana along the Santa Ana River. The Bowers Museum is art and history museum started in the 1930s with a large collection of fine art and artifacts from around the world and several traveling exhibits each year. (Wikipedia)

Setting
Large city
Highest degree offered
Bachelor's
To the ocean
10 miles
Nearest airport
6 miles to John Wayne Orange County (SNA) · major hub

How Santa Ana College compares

Graduation rate31%

Higher than 13% · #354 of 382 in California

Earnings, 10 years after entry$43,552

Higher than 80% · #83 of 326 in California

Average net price$3,133

Cheaper than 96% · #20 cheapest of 377 in California

Median debt at graduation$6,871

Lower than 84%

Student–faculty ratio33 : 1

Lower than 3%

Undergraduate enrollment22,485

Larger than 99%

Percentiles compare Santa Ana 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

22,485undergrads
  • Women12,15854%
  • Men10,32746%

Undergraduates by race / ethnicity

  • White19%
  • Black1.6%
  • Hispanic53%
  • Asian7.4%
  • Other or multiracial19%

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

By the numbers

Undergraduate enrollment
22,485
Student–faculty ratio
33 : 1
Pell Grant recipients
16%
First-generation students
70%
Students over 25
51%
Median family income
$22,576
Avg faculty salary (academic year)
$119,205
Endowment
$14,392,316

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 3,462 first-year students who entered in fall 2023.

  • From California97%
  • Other U.S. states1.9%
  • International1.4%

Most first-years stay in state — Santa Ana 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
$1,180
Out-of-state tuition
$10,756
Room & board
Books & supplies
$1,126
Total cost of attendance
$12,375
Average net price
$3,133

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
31%
First-year retention
Transferred to another college
7%
Median earnings, 6 years after entry
$36,845
Median earnings, 10 years after entry
$43,552
Median debt at graduation
$6,871
Students with federal loans
1%
Paying down their loans (1 year in)
40%

Graduating on time

By student background (4 years)

All students
31%
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
310 (212 men · 98 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 (9)

Football89
Soccer59
Baseball42
Wrestling34
Basketball30
Softball20
Track and Field (Outdoor)17
Volleyball10
Beach Volleyball9

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)
3
Property offenses (2022–2024)
8

On-campus criminal offenses reported under the Clery Act, 2022–2024, across 5 campuses (27,248 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.

3.7reported offenses a year
1.0 violent a year2.7 property a year

By offense type, per year

Motor vehicle theft
1.3
Burglary
0.7
Arson
0.7
Fondling
0.3
Robbery
0.3
Aggravated assault
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
$1,970
$30–48k
$2,385
$48–75k
$5,278
$75–110k
$8,575
$110k+
$10,160

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.

Does the school pay you to attend?

Santa Ana College funds essentially no grants of its own — almost all aid here comes from federal (Pell), state, or outside sources rather than the school's own discount. Its sticker price is what it is.

Source: IPEDS Student Financial Aid, 2022–23 full-time first-year undergraduates.

Is it worth it?

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

Median earnings (10 years)
$43,552
Typical debt at graduation
$6,871
Debt vs. one year's pay
16%
Out-earn a HS grad
46%

Typical debt would take roughly 1.6 years to repay at about a tenth of median earnings.

Solid value

A reasonable return: earnings comfortably clear the debt over a few years for most students who finish.

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
$40,165
Men
$48,472

Men out-earn women by $8,307 (21%) 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
85°F
Winter low
48°F
Annual rain
12.5″

Average temperature

HighLow
40°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND

Average precipitation (inches)

0.01.63.2JFMAMJJASOND

NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals, Santa Ana Fire Stn, CA US station (1.6 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 Santa Ana College

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

Colleges near Santa Ana 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.