California Community Colleges represents more than 2.1 million students across 116 campuses, making it the largest system of higher education in the United States.

Return on Investment

California's community colleges helped create nearly 1.5 million jobs or one out of every 16 jobs in the state when combining the impact of payroll, operating expenses and construction costs with spending by students, faculty and staff.

California community colleges is the largest provider of workforce training in the nation. California taxpayers receive $4.50 for every $1 invested in students who graduate from a California community college.

Students earning a degree or certificate from a California community college nearly double their earnings within three years.

Attending or graduating from a California community college nearly doubles your chance of finding a job compared to those who failed to complete high school.

Occupations that typically require workers to have an associate degree for entry have an average annual wage of almost $53,000, compared to an average annual wage of $36,100 for workers in high school-level occupations, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

For every $1 students invest in community college (in the form of out-of-pocket expenses and forgone time and money) they will gain $5 in future earnings.

Employment in associate and post-secondary non-degree-level occupations is projected to grow 11% in the 10-year period ending in 2026, faster than the 7% average projected for all occupations, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Over 70% of 911’s first responders were trained at community colleges. 80% of California’s Police officers and first responders get their training at community colleges. Seven out of ten of California’s nurses receive their training at a California community college, as well as eight out of ten police officers, firefighters and EMTs.

Nearly half of students earning a bachelor’s degree from a University of California campus in science, technology, engineering and mathematics transferred from a California community college.

Twenty-nine percent of University of California graduates and 51% of California State University graduates started at a community college.

The Public Policy Institute of California estimates California will face a shortage of 1 million holders of college degrees and certificates needed to fuel its workforce by 2025.

California’s community colleges added $128.2 billion in income to the California economy, a value approximately equal to 4.2% of the state’s total gross state product (GSP)

Community colleges create an estimated $265.9 billion in social benefits for California.

Annual Tuition for a CA student:

• At a community college is $3,440 (much less if receiving financial aid).

• At a 4-year state college is $9,410. (Going up 30% in the next 4-years)

• At a private school, annual tuition is $32,410.

  Much smaller scholarships have much bigger impacts!