Private for-profit · Community college

Smith Chason College

Los Angeles, California · Large city

0%
Transfer rate
$34,367
Avg net price
72%
Grad / completion
$58,004
Median earnings

Smith Chason College is a private for-profit associate-granting institution in Los Angeles, California (large city setting), enrolling 2,447 undergraduates. Admission is open to all applicants.

Private for-profitMidsize · 2,447 undergradsLarge cityNear the coast

About Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles is the most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Southern California. The historic center of Tongva power in the region was the settlement of Yaanga (Tongva: Iyáangẚ), meaning "place of the poison oak", which would eventually be the site where the Spanish founded the Pueblo de Los Ángeles. Iyáangẚ has also been translated as "the valley of smoke". Los Angeles is often billed as the creative capital of the world because one in every six of its residents works in a creative industry and there are more artists, writers, filmmakers, actors, dancers and musicians living and working in Los Angeles than any other city at any other time in world history. (Wikipedia)

Setting
Large city
Highest degree offered
Bachelor's
To the ocean
11 miles
Nearest airport
10 miles to Jack Northrop Field Hawthorne (HHR)

How Smith Chason College compares

Graduation rate72%

Higher than 65% · #148 of 382 in California

Earnings, 10 years after entry$58,004

Higher than 95% · #20 of 326 in California

Average net price$34,367

Cheaper than 4% · #348 cheapest of 377 in California

Median debt at graduation$21,397

Lower than 4%

Student–faculty ratio21 : 1

Lower than 23%

Undergraduate enrollment2,447

Larger than 84%

Percentiles compare Smith Chason 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

2,447undergrads
  • Women1,97681%
  • Men47119%

Undergraduates by race / ethnicity

  • White22%
  • Black7.4%
  • Hispanic52%
  • Asian6.9%
  • Other or multiracial12%

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

By the numbers

Undergraduate enrollment
2,447
Student–faculty ratio
21 : 1
Pell Grant recipients
59%
First-generation students
50%
Students over 25
61%
Median family income
$24,741
Avg faculty salary (academic year)
$70,929

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

Cost

In-state tuition
$19,040
Room & board
Books & supplies
$1,062
Total cost of attendance
$39,461
Average net price
$34,367

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)
72%
Graduated on time (4 years)
92%
First-year retention
Transferred to another college
0%
Median earnings, 6 years after entry
$48,956
Median earnings, 10 years after entry
$58,004
Median debt at graduation
$21,397
Students with federal loans
85%
Paying down their loans (1 year in)
38%

Graduating on time

By student background (4 years)

All students
92%
Low-income (Pell)
62%
First-generation
63%

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

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%.

Campus safety

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

On-campus criminal offenses reported under the Clery Act, 2022–2024, across 4 campuses (2,447 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.

0.7reported offenses a year
0.3 violent a year0.3 property a year

By offense type, per year

Aggravated assault
0.3
Motor vehicle theft
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
$32,969
$30–48k
$34,220
$48–75k
$36,291
$75–110k
$36,953
$110k+
$39,299

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
$145,164

$36,291/year × about 4.0 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?

Smith Chason 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)
$58,004
Typical debt at graduation
$21,397
Debt vs. one year's pay
37%
Out-earn a HS grad
63%

Typical debt would take roughly 3.7 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
$53,129
Men
$75,256

Men out-earn women by $22,127 (42%) 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
84°F
Winter low
48°F
Annual rain
14.2″

Average temperature

HighLow
40°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND

Average precipitation (inches)

0.01.83.6JFMAMJJASOND

NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals, Los Angeles Dwtn Usc Campus, CA US station (3.9 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 Smith Chason College

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

Colleges near Smith Chason 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.