Community CollegePublicHSI

West Valley College

Saratoga, California·Public, 2-year·Far West·westvalley.edu
Acceptance
Open admission
—
6-yr Graduation
51%
—
Total enrollment
7,655
peer median 8,973
Avg net price
$3,423
-$3.7k vs Community College
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AboutOutcomesProgram outcomesAccreditationCostFederal aidLoan defaultsAcademic programsEnrollment trendsAthleticsCampus safetyFacultyPeersIR OfficeDocumentsGrantsAlumni

About

West Valley College is a public community college located in Saratoga, California, on a 143-acre campus in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The college offers various academic programs across multiple disciplines, including art, health, language arts, and science. It primarily focuses on preparing students for transfer to four-year institutions and career readiness, with a notable record of over 1,400 degrees awarded in the 2024-2025 academic year.

Graduation rate & outcomes

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

IPEDS
Overall completion
51%
Full-time retention
78%

Pell equity

4.6pp gap
Pell recipients
47%66 of 139
Non-Pell (all)
52%253 of 490
No Federal Aid
52%253 of 490

Non-Pell students graduate at a 4.6-point higher rate than Pell recipients.

Source: IPEDS Graduation Rates (GR) — Pell/SSL cohort, 2024 cohort.

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 109 Title IV programs, 9 pass the federal Gainful Employment test and 0 fail. 100 have graduate earnings too small to publish, so they carry no pass/fail verdict.

Total programs
109
Passing
9
8.3% of portfolio
Failing (GE)
0
0.0% of portfolio
Fail rate
0.0%
-0.6pp vs 0.6% national

Pass / fail distribution

109programs
  • Passing9 · 8.3%
  • No Data100 · 91.7%
  • Failing0 · 0.0%

Severity spectrum

Critical
0
Severe
0
Recoverable
0
At Risk
0
Watch
1
Safe
8
No data
100

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.

9
Psychology General
Associate Degree · Psychology
+14.1%
$41,180 vs $36,082
Human Development Family Studies and Related Services
Associate Degree · Family And Consumer Sciences/Human Sciences
+38.4%
$49,933 vs $36,082
Criminal Justice and Corrections
Associate Degree · Security And Protective Services
+38.5%
$49,981 vs $36,082
Sociology
Associate Degree · Social Sciences
+43.6%
$51,818 vs $36,082
Liberal Arts and Sciences General Studies and Humanities
Associate Degree · Liberal Arts And Sciences, General Studies And Humanities
+46.1%
$52,708 vs $36,082
Biological and Physical Sciences
Associate Degree · Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies
+56.4%
$56,438 vs $36,082
Business Administration Management and Operations
Associate Degree · Business, Management, Marketing, And Related Support Services
+70.8%
$61,612 vs $36,082
Communication and Media Studies
Associate Degree · Communication, Journalism, And Related Programs
+80.9%
$65,280 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 1966Next review Mar 2027

Action history · 5

  1. Oct 2023Grant Substantive Change: Program
    Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges
  2. Sep 2023Grant Substantive Change: Degree
    Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges
  3. Jan 2022Renewal of Accreditation
    Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges
  4. Jun 2020Renewal of Accreditation
    Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges
  5. Jun 2015Renewal of Accreditation
    Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges

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$1,658
$30–48k$2,226
$48–75k$5,974
$75–110k$8,651
$110k+$9,893

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

Avg net price
$3,423
-$3,724vs Community College median $7,148
Federal loans
0.3%
In-state tuition
$0
Out-of-state
$8,702

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, 1,397 students received $6.7M in Pell grants, alongside $261K in federal Direct Loans.

Pell recipients
1,397
AY 2024–25
Pell disbursed
$6.7M
$6,712,721 total
Direct Loans
$261K
62 loan awards

Pell recipients · 5-year trend

1k
’20
1k
’21
1k
’22
1k
’23
1k
’24

Loan volume by type · AY 2024–25

Subsidized$115K
32 loan awards
Unsubsidized · UG$146K
30 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 119 borrowers who entered repayment, 9 (7.5%) defaulted within three years — above the 2.3% national rate.

Default rate
7.5%
+5.2pp vs 2.3% national
Borrowers in repayment
119
Defaulted
9
Measurement window
3 years
Federal CDR standard

Default rate vs national, by cohort

2016
12.1%
2017
11.7%
2018
7.5%
2019
7.5%
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 West Valley College

Top program areas ranked by completions.

IPEDS
Distinct CIP programs117
UndergraduateOffered

Top program families by completions

1,930 total completions
01Liberal Arts
1,18161.2%
02Social Sciences
24912.9%
03Business
1296.7%
04Visual/Performing Arts
784.0%
05Psychology
693.6%
06Mathematics
653.4%
07Communication
613.2%
08Education
422.2%
09Physical Sciences
301.6%
10Biological Sciences
261.3%

Enrollment trends & demographics

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

IPEDS
Fall total
7,655
12-mo unduplicated
12,415
Undergraduate
12,415
Graduate
0

Gender split

Men
44%5,469
Women
56%6,946

Race / ethnicity composition

Hispanic
33.9%
White
28.2%
Asian
21.1%
Two or more
11.6%
Black
2.8%
Unknown
1.5%
Non-resident
0.6%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander
0.3%
American Indian / Alaska Native
0.1%

Athletics & Title IX gender equity

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

EADA
Athletes
192
113 M · 79 W
Women athletes
41.1%
Athletic aid
$0
Total student aid
Budget
$4.2M
Total expenses

Men vs women · spending splits

Athletic student aid
$0
$0
Recruiting expense
$0
$0
Head-coach salaries
$51K
$43K
Men Women

Sport-by-sport · 9

Soccer
31 M · 21 W
$390K
Baseball
38 M · —
$345K
Swimming
22 M · 12 W
$183K
Water Polo
19 M · 13 W
$322K
Softball
— · 22 W
$292K
Basketball
16 M · —
$540K

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
0.00
0 offenses · 7,272 students

3-year trend

0.302 yrs ago0.921 yr ago0.00Latest
Offenses · 3-yr
8
Last three years
VAWA · 3-yr
8
DV, dating, stalking
Hate crimes · 3-yr
0
Res-hall fires · 3-yr
0

Criminal offenses by type

No criminal offenses reported.

By location

0total

    VAWA offenses

    0
    Domestic violence
    0
    Dating violence
    3
    Stalking
    3 total under the Violence Against Women Act.

    Hate crimes by bias

    No hate crimes reported.

    Arrests vs disciplinary referrals

    CategoryArrestsReferrals
    Weapons01
    Drugs02
    Liquor11

    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
    29.0:1
    Instructional staff (full-time equivalent)
    142

    West Valley College vs Peer comparison

    The peer institutions West Valley 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
    SubjectWest Valley College
    		51%Open admission7,655$3,423Community College
    De Anza College
    		—Open admission17,425$6,642Community College
    Evergreen Valley College
    		—Open admission9,336$12,414Community College
    Foothill College
    		—Open admission12,949$7,653Baccalaureate
    Mission College
    		—Open admission6,909$5,080Community College
    San Jose City College
    		—Open admission8,609$16,959Community College
    Peer group median51%—8,973$7,148

    Institutions like West Valley College

    Explore the federal data for institutions in West Valley College's comparison group.

    IPEDS

    West Valley College Institutional Research office

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

    Office
    Office of Institutional Research
    Address
    14000 Fruitvale Ave, Saratoga, California 95070

    To strengthen institutional decision-making and planning at West Valley College through data analytics, performance and assessment reporting, and the cultivation of accessible data systems, data literacy, and integrated planning tools.

    Visit IR office page
    Team
    5 members
    • Shusaku Horibe
      Dean of Institutional Effectiveness & Research
    • Shusaku Horibe, Ph.D.
      Dean of Institutional Effectiveness & Research
    • Alison McGann
      Research Analyst
    • Sam Newman
      Research Analyst
    • Katie Vanegas
      Student Intern

    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 West Valley College (6)

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

    • Mark Bingham
      Athletics
    • Stan Bunger
      Broadcasting
    • Cung Le
      Martial Arts and Acting
    • Steve Lee
      Religion
    • Ricky Meinhold
      Baseball
    • H. Paul Shuch
      Science and Music

    Frequently asked questions about West Valley College

    Quick answers to the questions most often asked about West Valley College.

    What is the acceptance rate at West Valley College?

    West Valley College does not have a reported acceptance rate. This institution has an open admission policy: it admits all applicants who meet basic requirements, so it does not report a selective admit rate.

    What is the graduation rate at West Valley College?

    West Valley College reports a 6-year graduation rate of 51% per the latest IPEDS.

    How many students attend West Valley College?

    West Valley College reports a total enrollment of 7,655 students per the latest IPEDS.

    What is the average net price at West Valley College?

    The average net price at West Valley College is $3,423 per the latest College Scorecard. Net price is the published cost of attendance minus grant aid.

    Where is West Valley College located?

    West Valley College is located in Saratoga, California 95070.

    Who runs Institutional Research at West Valley College?

    West Valley College's IR work is done by the Office of Institutional Research.

    About the data on this page

    Every figure comes from an official federal or public source. Here is each one and the release it is currently on.

    IPEDSFall 2025–26 release, published July 28, 2026
    Enrollment, completions, graduation rates, tuition, financial aid, staffing, and finance for every U.S. institution in federal student aid programs.
    National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education
    College ScorecardJune 10, 2026 release (merged 2025–26 files)
    Institution and field-of-study costs, graduate earnings, debt, completion, and admissions outcomes compiled from federal aid records, tax data, and IPEDS.
    U.S. Department of Education
    FVT/GE program performanceProvisional preview, May 18, 2026 release
    Program-level debt-to-earnings and earnings-premium measures behind the FVT/GE and STATS accountability frameworks.
    U.S. Department of Education
    DAPIP accreditationContinuously refreshed
    Accreditation status for institutions and programs, reported by recognized accrediting agencies.
    U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education
    Federal Pell Grant & loan volumeAY 2025–26 (through Q3), through March 31, 2026
    Pell Grant and Direct Loan recipient counts, award amounts, and disbursement volume by institution and award year.
    U.S. Department of Education, Federal Student Aid
    Cohort Default RatesFY 2022 official rates
    Institution-level federal student loan default rates, measuring borrowers who default within three years of entering repayment.
    U.S. Department of Education, Federal Student Aid
    Equity in Athletics (EADA)Academic year 2024–25
    Athletics participation, coaching, revenues, and expenses by sport and gender for Title IV institutions.
    U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education
    Campus Safety & SecurityData through reporting year 2024
    Criminal offenses, arrests, disciplinary actions, VAWA offenses, and fire statistics reported by campus under the Clery Act.
    U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education
    Last reviewed July 2026All data sources & release dates →

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