Private nonprofit · COLLEGE PAYOFF

CET-Santa Maria

Santa Maria, CA · 3 reportable field-and-credential outcomes

10-year estimate · Negative payoff

−$303,034 over 10 years

Modeled from observed year-5 institution earnings and the institution-wide average net price over four years.

With these assumptions, the added earnings do not recover the cost within ten years.

Modeled economic break-even
−150%Modeled 10-year ROI
$34,875Observed earnings · year 5
Not reachedMaximum annual price for positive 10-year payoff
Includes direct price and earnings forgone while studying. Assumes $45,000 in alternative annual earnings and no wage growth. How we calculate it
ECONOMIC INVESTMENT → PAYBACK

Estimated payoff over ten years.

The scenario counts direct price and earnings forgone upfront, then applies the reported annual earnings premium.

10-YEAR PAYOFF CURVECumulative economic payoff after graduation
−$303,034at year 10
Net gainInvestment not yet recovered
NET GAIN$0UNRECOVERED
−$201,7840
2
4
6
8
−$303,03410
Years after graduationBreak-even: years
FEDERAL COST DATA

Four ways to read college price.

Annual college-wide figures from the current College Scorecard release. Average net price covers full-time, first-time undergraduates receiving federal aid; public-college figures use in-state students. Program tuition and individual aid offers may differ.

Published in-state tuitionNot available
Sticker price
Published out-of-state tuitionNot available
Sticker price
Average net price$5,446
Title IV student average
Cost of attendance$22,703
Tuition + living budget
PRICE SOURCECollege reported · annual amount · federal dataset
COLLEGE AT A GLANCE

Institution details

Current federal characteristics describing the college—not the outcomes of a specific program.

Accreditor
Council on Occupational Education
Main award level
Certificates
Campus setting
City
Admissions
Open admission
Delivery
Campus or mixed delivery
Federal designation
No special designation reported
Sources: College Scorecard June 2026 release and IPEDS 2024 institutional characteristics.
OBSERVED FEDERAL MEASURES

Cost, debt, completion and earnings context

$5,446Average net price / year
$22,703Cost of attendance
$7,041Median federal student debt · completer borrowers
$75/moPublished 10-year payment estimate
$34,875Median earnings · year 5 after completion
77.3%Completion rate
Not availableAdmission rate
142Student size

Institution debt covers federal student-loan borrowers who completed. Parent PLUS and private loans are excluded; missing and privacy-suppressed values remain unavailable.

PRICE BY FAMILY INCOME

Average net price is not one price

Federal averages for aided students in each family-income band. Your aid offer can differ.

$0–30k$4,846
$30–48k$5,802
$48–75k$7,319
$75–110k$4,714
$110k+Not available
LONGER-TERM CONTEXT

What happens beyond the first earnings measure

Year 5$34,875
Year 6$33,264
Year 10$32,986
Full-time retention
91.7%
Part-time retention
Not available
Completion within 200% of normal time
70.2%

Earnings timepoints may use different historical cohorts and should not be read as one group’s guaranteed salary growth.

NATIONAL CONTEXT

How this college compares

Percentiles compare this institution with currently operating colleges that report the same federal measure.

29thEarnings percentile
78thCompletion percentile
WHAT STANDS OUT

A faster read on this college

These summaries use only reportable field-and-credential records at this institution. They do not fill privacy-suppressed outcomes.

$37,870Median year-4 earnings across reportable program categories
$6,425Median federal debt across categories that report debt
33%Of earnings-reporting categories above their same-field national benchmark
EARNINGS PATH

Reported earnings over time

$31,508Year 1
$40,676Year 4
$34,875Year 5

Separate federal cohorts may underlie different measurement years.

PROGRAM PAYOFF SPREAD

The college average is not the whole story.

Observed earnings vary substantially by field and credential at the same institution.

1Building/Construction Finishing, Management, and Inspection · Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma$39,2292Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services · Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma$37,8703Business Operations Support and Assistant Services · Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma$31,548

Observed year-4 earnings · compare like fields and credentials before deciding

BUILD A REAL SHORTLIST

Comparable colleges in CA

Currently operating private nonprofit institutions with the closest combination of annual net price and observed year-5 earnings. Similarity is descriptive—not a quality ranking.

Watsonville, CA

CET-Watsonville

Annual net price
$5,198
Observed earnings · year 5
$34,875
Modeled 10-year ROI
-150%
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Salinas, CA

CET-Salinas

Annual net price
$6,924
Observed earnings · year 5
$34,875
Modeled 10-year ROI
-149%
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Soledad, CA

CET-Soledad

Annual net price
$11,260
Observed earnings · year 5
$34,875
Modeled 10-year ROI
-145%
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El Centro, CA

CET-El Centro

Annual net price
$11,405
Observed earnings · year 5
$34,875
Modeled 10-year ROI
-145%
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ALL REPORTABLE PROGRAM CATEGORIES

Explore exact field-and-credential outcomes

Federal fieldCredentialEarnings, year 4Federal debt2023–24 awards
Building/Construction Finishing, Management, and InspectionUndergraduate Certificate or Diploma$39,229$6,42524
Allied Health and Medical Assisting ServicesUndergraduate Certificate or Diploma$37,870$6,52870
Business Operations Support and Assistant ServicesUndergraduate Certificate or Diploma$31,548$5,8944

Awards use first-major IPEDS completions aggregated to the same four-digit field and credential.

Earnings, price, completion and enrollment are observed federal measures. ROI, payoff and break-even are modeled scenarios built from those measures and fixed assumptions. College payoff is not the payoff of every degree at this school; use the program table for a more precise comparison.