Private nonprofit · COLLEGE PAYOFF

Westmont College

Santa Barbara, CA · 8 reportable field-and-credential outcomes

10-year estimate · Negative payoff

−$132,722 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.

18.1 yrsModeled economic break-even
−45%Modeled 10-year ROI
$61,349Observed 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
−$132,722at year 10
Net gainInvestment not yet recovered
NET GAIN$0UNRECOVERED
−$296,2120
2
4
6
8
−$132,72210
Years after graduationBreak-even: 18.1 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 tuition$53,584
Sticker price
Published out-of-state tuition$53,584
Sticker price
Average net price$29,053
Title IV student average
Cost of attendance$71,150
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
Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior Colleges and University Commission
Main award level
Bachelor’s degrees
Campus setting
Suburban
Admissions
Selective 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

$29,053Average net price / year
$71,150Cost of attendance
$23,250Median federal student debt · completer borrowers
$246/moPublished 10-year payment estimate
$61,349Median earnings · year 5 after completion
70.3%Completion rate
77.0%Admission rate
1,302Student 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$20,899
$30–48k$15,492
$48–75k$19,867
$75–110k$24,524
$110k+$38,124
LONGER-TERM CONTEXT

What happens beyond the first earnings measure

Year 5$61,349
Year 6$53,737
Year 10$64,778
Full-time retention
85.0%
Part-time retention
Not available
Completion within 200% of normal time
73.9%

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.

82thEarnings percentile
68thCompletion 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.

$61,939Median year-4 earnings across reportable program categories
$23,250Median federal debt across categories that report debt
86%Of earnings-reporting categories above their same-field national benchmark
EARNINGS PATH

Reported earnings over time

$37,671Year 1
$64,044Year 4
$61,349Year 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.

1Business/Managerial Economics · Bachelor's Degree$84,8152Biology, General · Bachelor's Degree$75,8893Communication and Media Studies · Bachelor's Degree$62,5354Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities · Bachelor's Degree$61,9395English Language and Literature, General · Bachelor's Degree$58,4596Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness · Bachelor's Degree$56,8787Psychology, General · Bachelor's Degree$45,455

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.

Riverside, CA

California Baptist University

Annual net price
$26,285
Observed earnings · year 5
$63,882
Modeled 10-year ROI
-34%
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Thousand Oaks, CA

California Lutheran University

Annual net price
$30,109
Observed earnings · year 5
$66,372
Modeled 10-year ROI
-29%
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Whittier, CA

Whittier College

Annual net price
$25,757
Observed earnings · year 5
$57,770
Modeled 10-year ROI
-55%
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La Mirada, CA

Biola University

Annual net price
$31,495
Observed earnings · year 5
$56,263
Modeled 10-year ROI
-63%
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ALL REPORTABLE PROGRAM CATEGORIES

Explore exact field-and-credential outcomes

Federal fieldCredentialEarnings, year 4Federal debt2023–24 awards
Business/Managerial EconomicsBachelor's Degree$84,815$25,000Not reported
Biology, GeneralBachelor's Degree$75,889$23,250Not reported
Communication and Media StudiesBachelor's Degree$62,535$23,250Not reported
Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and HumanitiesBachelor's Degree$61,939$19,500Not reported
English Language and Literature, GeneralBachelor's Degree$58,459$26,388Not reported
Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/FitnessBachelor's Degree$56,878$24,250Not reported
Psychology, GeneralBachelor's Degree$45,455$25,500Not reported
SociologyBachelor's DegreeNot available$23,048Not reported

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.