Community CollegePublicHSI

Pasadena City College

Pasadena, California·Public, 2-year·Far West·pasadena.edu
6-yr Graduation
48%
-16.5pp vs Community College
Total enrollment
24,597
peer median 21,762
Avg net price
$3,123
-$1.3k vs Community College
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AboutOutcomesProgram outcomesAccreditationCostFederal aidLoan defaultsAcademic programsEnrollment trendsAthleticsCampus safetyFacultyPeersIR OfficeDocumentsGrantsAlumni

About

Pasadena City College (PCC) is a public community college located in Pasadena, California, founded in 1924. The college serves over 27,250 students and offers a variety of academic programs, including degrees, transfer programs, and certificates, with notable focus areas in health sciences, liberal arts, and vocational training.

Graduation rate & outcomes

Completion, retention, and the equity gap between Pell and non-Pell students.

IPEDS
Overall completion
48%-16.5pp vs Community College
Full-time retention
76%

Pell equity

50.0pp gap
Pell recipients
50%
Non-Pell
0%

Pell recipients graduate at a higher rate than non-Pell students here — unusual and worth investigating.

Program outcomes

Federal Program Performance Data: how each program's graduate earnings and debt measure up under Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment.

FVT/GE

Of 148 Title IV programs, 10 pass the federal Gainful Employment test and 2 fail. 136 have graduate earnings too small to publish, so they carry no pass/fail verdict.

Total programs
148
Passing
10
6.8% of portfolio
Failing (GE)
2
1.4% of portfolio
Fail rate
1.4%
+0.8pp vs 0.6% national

Pass / fail distribution

148programs
  • Passing10 · 6.8%
  • No Data136 · 91.9%
  • Failing2 · 1.4%

Severity spectrum

Critical
1
Severe
1
Recoverable
0
At Risk
1
Watch
4
Safe
5
No data
136

Tiers band programs by how far graduate earnings sit above or below the benchmark, from Critical (below −15%) through Safe (above +25%). No data means earnings were privacy-suppressed.

Earnings premium gap

Graduate earnings versus the federal benchmark, worst gaps first.

12
Fine and Studio Arts
Associate Degree · Visual And Performing Arts
-16.6%
$30,107 vs $36,082
Sports Kinesiology and Physical Education/Fitness
Associate Degree · Parks, Recreation, Leisure, And Fitness Studies
-6.0%
$33,915 vs $36,082
Sociology
Associate Degree · Social Sciences
+9.1%
$39,348 vs $36,082
Liberal Arts and Sciences General Studies and Humanities
Associate Degree · Liberal Arts And Sciences, General Studies And Humanities
+15.3%
$41,598 vs $36,082
Human Development Family Studies and Related Services
Associate Degree · Family And Consumer Sciences/Human Sciences
+15.9%
$41,808 vs $36,082
Psychology General
Associate Degree · Psychology
+18.3%
$42,700 vs $36,082
Criminal Justice and Corrections
Associate Degree · Security And Protective Services
+22.0%
$44,033 vs $36,082
Communication and Media Studies
Associate Degree · Communication, Journalism, And Related Programs
+25.4%
$45,235 vs $36,082

Accreditation status & history

Who accredits the institution, current standing, and any past actions.

DAPIP
AccreditedInstitutional accreditor

Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges

Accredited since 1952Next review Mar 2028

Programmatic accreditations · 5

Action history · 23

  1. Aug 2025Removal of Monitoring Status
    American Dental Association, Commission on Dental Accreditation · Dental Hygiene (DH)
  2. Aug 2025Heightened Monitoring or Focused Review
    American Dental Association, Commission on Dental Accreditation · Dental Laboratory Technology (DT)
  3. Jan 2025Grant Substantive Change: Program
    American Dental Association, Commission on Dental Accreditation · Dental Hygiene (DH)
  4. Jan 2025Renewal of Accreditation
    American Dental Association, Commission on Dental Accreditation · Dental Laboratory Technology (DT)
  5. Jan 2025Renewal of Accreditation
    American Dental Association, Commission on Dental Accreditation · Dental Hygiene (DH)

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

Tuition & cost

What families actually pay, broken down by family income.

College Scorecard

Net price by family income

Aid exceeds costFamily pays
$0–30k$2,205
$30–48k$2,702
$48–75k$5,613
$75–110k$8,070
$110k+$10,004

Negative values mean aid exceeds the published cost of attendance for that income band.

Avg net price
$3,123
-$1,277vs Community College median $4,401
Federal loans
0.6%
In-state tuition
$1,180
Out-of-state
$10,756

Federal aid volume & trends

Pell grants and federal Direct Loan volume disbursed to students, and how they've trended.

Federal Student Aid

In AY 2024–25, 9,500 students received $42.2M in Pell grants, alongside $2.2M in federal Direct Loans.

Pell recipients
9,500
AY 2024–25
Pell disbursed
$42.2M
$42,205,033 total
Direct Loans
$2.2M
514 loan awards

Pell recipients · 5-year trend

9k
’20
7k
’21
8k
’22
9k
’23
10k
’24

Loan volume by type · AY 2024–25

Subsidized$894K
262 loan awards
Unsubsidized · UG$1.1M
240 loan awards
Parent PLUS$187K
12 loan awards

Loan awards count each loan type a student holds, not unique borrowers; one student may carry several (e.g. subsidized and unsubsidized), so the per-type figures are the reliable detail.

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

Student loan default rate

The share of student borrowers who default on federal loans within three years, against the national benchmark.

Cohort Default Rate

Of 163 borrowers who entered repayment, 3 (1.8%) defaulted within three years — below the 2.3% national rate.

Default rate
1.8%
-0.5pp vs 2.3% national
Borrowers in repayment
163
Defaulted
3
Measurement window
3 years
Federal CDR standard

Default rate vs national, by cohort

2016
9.8%
2017
7.1%
2018
10.5%
2019
1.8%
2020*
0.0%
This institutionNational rate

* Cohorts 2020 and later read near 0% because the federal COVID-19 payment pause (CARES Act) suspended defaults nationwide. These years reflect a national policy, not institutional performance; the 2019 cohort is the last measured under normal repayment.

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

Academic programs at Pasadena City College

Top program areas ranked by completions.

IPEDS
Distinct CIP programs110
UndergraduateOffered
GraduateOffered

Top program families by completions

6,523 total completions
01Liberal Arts
2,11632.4%
02Multi/Interdisciplinary
1,02115.7%
03Business
1,00915.5%
04Health Professions
91214.0%
05Social Sciences
4146.3%
06Engineering Tech
3214.9%
07Psychology
2974.6%
08Visual/Performing Arts
1672.6%
09Communication
1472.3%
10Mathematics
1191.8%

Enrollment trends & demographics

Fall headcount, 12-month unduplicated enrollment, and student body composition.

IPEDS
Fall total
24,597
12-mo unduplicated
35,539
Undergraduate
35,539
Graduate
0

Gender split

Men
46%16,456
Women
54%19,083

Race / ethnicity composition

Hispanic
47.6%
Asian
23.6%
White
17.0%
Two or more
3.7%
Black
3.4%
Non-resident
2.6%
Unknown
1.8%
American Indian / Alaska Native
0.2%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander
0.1%

Athletics & Title IX gender equity

How athletic participation, aid, and spending are split between men and women.

EADA
Athletes
269
177 M · 92 W
Women athletes
34.2%
Athletic aid
$0
Total student aid
Budget
$3.5M
Total expenses

Men vs women · spending splits

Athletic student aid
$0
$0
Recruiting expense
$0
$0
Head-coach salaries
$92K
$75K
Men Women

Sport-by-sport · 11

Football
76 M · —
$578K
Soccer
28 M · 24 W
$306K
Track and Field (Outdoor)
26 M · 11 W
$127K
Baseball
30 M · —
$321K
Basketball
13 M · 9 W
$629K
Cross Country
11 M · 7 W
$97K

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

Campus safety & crime statistics

Reported on-campus crimes over the last three years, including violence and hate crimes.

Clery Act
Criminal offenses · per 1,000 students
0.68
15 offenses · 21,923 students

3-year trend

0.362 yrs ago0.661 yr ago0.68Latest
Offenses · 3-yr
38
Last three years
VAWA · 3-yr
4
DV, dating, stalking
Hate crimes · 3-yr
8
Res-hall fires · 3-yr
0

Criminal offenses by type

Motor vehicle theft
9
Burglary
3
Fondling
2
Aggravated assault
1

By location

15total
  • On campus14
  • Public property1

VAWA offenses

0
Domestic violence
2
Dating violence
0
Stalking
2 total under the Violence Against Women Act.

Hate crimes by bias

  • Race1

Arrests vs disciplinary referrals

CategoryArrestsReferrals
Weapons60
Drugs40
Liquor10

Residence-hall fires

No residence-hall fires reported.

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

Student-faculty ratio

Student-to-faculty ratio and instructional staff counts.

IPEDS
Student-to-faculty
23.0:1
Instructional staff (full-time equivalent)
445

Pasadena City College vs Peer comparison

The peer institutions Pasadena City College selected for federal comparison reporting.

IPEDS
GraduationRetentionSelectivityEnrollmentAffordabilityYield
This institutionPeer median

A larger shape on any axis means this institution outperforms its peers on that dimension. For acceptance rate and net price, lower raw values are inverted so "more selective" and "more affordable" appear larger.

Carnegie
SubjectPasadena City College
48%—24,597$3,123Community College
Cerritos College
——21,859$693Community College
Chaffey College
——22,460$5,743Community College
Citrus College
——10,429$3,800Community College
College of the Canyons
——18,075$2,114Community College
El Camino Community College District
——21,664$5,170Community College
Glendale Community College
——12,075$7,461Community College
Long Beach City College
——24,985$5,001Community College
Mt San Antonio College
——29,971$3,107Community College
Rio Hondo College
——17,441$11,903Baccalaureate
Santa Barbara City College
——12,334$10,029Community College
Santa Monica College
81%—23,453$3,600Baccalaureate
Peer group median65%—21,762$4,401

Pasadena City College Institutional Research office

The IR team responsible for the institution's federal reporting.

Office
Office of Institutional Effectiveness
Phone
626 585 7123
Address
1570 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91106

The Office of Institutional Effectiveness coordinates the internal and external data reporting, college Policies and Administrative Procedures, research activities, data inquiries, campus surveys, and the dissemination of reports and data analysis that inform college-wide decision-making.

Visit IR office page
Team
2 members
  • Alisha Barreras
    Administrative Assistant II
  • Darnell Calderon
    Research Planning Analyst

Reports & documents (3)

Dashboards, factbooks, data dictionaries, and other reference material published by the IR office.

Grants & funding (1)

Federal grant awards and open funding opportunities awarded to this institution.

USA Spending

Notable alumni of Pasadena City College (15)

A curated list of alumni recognized for notable achievements across industries.

  • Michael Anthony
    Music
  • Sudan Archives
    Music
  • Robert Armstrong
    Arts
  • Octavia E. Butler
    Literature
  • Clive Cussler
    Literature
  • Michael Dorn
    Television
  • Jaime Escalante
    Education
  • William Holden
    Film
  • Kenny Loggins
    Music
  • Dennis Muren
    Film
  • Nick Nolte
    Film
  • David Lee Roth
    Music
Showing 1–12 of 15
1 / 2

Frequently asked questions about Pasadena City College

Quick answers to the questions most often asked about Pasadena City College.

What is the graduation rate at Pasadena City College?

Pasadena City College reports a 6-year graduation rate of 48% per the latest IPEDS.

How many students attend Pasadena City College?

Pasadena City College reports a total enrollment of 24,597 students per the latest IPEDS.

What is the average net price at Pasadena City College?

The average net price at Pasadena City College is $3,123 per the latest College Scorecard. Net price is the published cost of attendance minus grant aid.

Where is Pasadena City College located?

Pasadena City College is located in Pasadena, California 91106-2003.

Who runs Institutional Research at Pasadena City College?

Pasadena City College's IR work is done by the Office of Institutional Effectiveness.

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