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Community college · Public

Hartnell College

Salinas, CA1,574 online only

Hartnell College is a public community college in Salinas, CA, with about 6,904 students on campus and 1,574 more studying only online.

Visit www.hartnell.edu ↗Directions
Students on campus
6,904
plus 1,574 studying only online
Admission rate
Open
open enrollment
Net price a year
$2,039
tuition and fees $1,404; the net price adds housing and food
Graduation rate
40%
lower than at 79% of 2-year colleges
Earnings, 10 yrs later
$44,316
higher than at 59% of U.S. colleges
In brief

What to know about Hartnell College

Hartnell College is nearly free for lower-income families

Families earning under $30,000 pay about $828 a year after grants. Families earning $48,000–75,000 pay about $3,124, and those over $110,000 pay about $9,885. What it costs ↓

Most undergraduates are Hispanic

74% of Hartnell College’s undergraduates are Hispanic. The students ↓

Most students study part-time

60% of undergraduates attend part-time. The graduation rate counts only first-time, full-time students, so it covers a minority of the people studying here. The students ↓

Hartnell College is mostly about liberal arts

54% of the degrees Hartnell College awards are in liberal arts. Majors ↓

This summary is written from the data on this page. Figures are from the U.S. Department of Education’s College Scorecard; price, graduation and earnings include online students; graduation rates count only first-time, full-time students.

★ What stands out · What it costs

The sticker price, and what families really pay

Sticker price: $11,892 a year

Before any grants · out-of-state tuition $10,374

Tuition & fees (in state) $1,404Books & supplies $1,062Other costs $9,426

After grants, the average family on aid pays $2,039.

Tuition and fees are $1,404 a year. The net price also counts housing, food and other costs at full price, so a student living at home pays less than it shows.

Your family’s price

Average net price after grants, by family income

$3,124

About $6,248 over 2 years · 74% off the sticker price

Under $30k$30–48k$48–75k$75–110kOver $110k
Getting in

How hard is it to get into Hartnell College?

Open

anyone with a high school diploma can enroll

Test scores of admitted students

No SAT or ACT ranges reported. Hartnell College is likely test-optional.

Outcomes

Do students finish, and does it pay off?

Graduate
40%
within 3 years · Pell students 45%
Come back for year two
73%
full-time first-year students
Earnings, 10 years later
$44,316
median, students on federal aid
Typical debt
—

Paying back loans

Federal student loans, this college

28%

of borrowers paid down at least some of their loan within three years, more than at 13% of U.S. colleges.

Almost none defaulted within three years (payments on federal loans were paused from 2020 to 2023, so recent default rates are near zero everywhere).

Majors

What students study, and what it pays

Share of degrees by field

Liberal arts 54%Health professions 8%Business 5%Psychology 5%Social sciences 4%Agriculture 3%Everything else 22%

Associate degree programs with the most graduates

And their graduates’ median earnings four years later (one year where that’s all that’s reported).

Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities341 graduates a year
$46k4 yrs out
Psychology, General93 graduates a year
$36k4 yrs out
Business Administration, Management and Operations87 graduates a year
$45k4 yrs out
Criminal Justice and Corrections62 graduates a year
$53k4 yrs out
Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness45 graduates a year
—not reported
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing40 graduates a year
$131k4 yrs out
Mathematics30 graduates a year
—not reported
Health Services/Allied Health/Health Sciences, General30 graduates a year
—not reported
Who goes there

The students

9,453 degree-seeking undergraduates.

By race and ethnicity

White 15%Hispanic 74%Black 2%Asian 4%Two or more 2%

Women and men

Women 46%Men 54%
22 : 1
students per teacher
32%
get Pell grants (lower income)
0%
take federal loans
24%
undergrads 25 or older
60%
study part time
The town around it

Living in Salinas

6% of Salinas’s 159,134 residents are enrolled in college. What the town is like, from TownRatings’ Salinas pages.

Salinas →
SalinasSalinas, CA
$1,991/momedian rent · about the state median$748Ktypical home valueC−Safety Grade41° / 72°January low / July highC+Health GradeAll colleges in and near SalinasCompare prices, admissions and outcomes
Nearby

Other colleges within 30 miles

Straight-line distances from Hartnell College; colleges with 100 or more students on campus.

California State University-Monterey BayUniversity or college · Public · Seaside
7.4 mi6,204 students
Naval Postgraduate SchoolUniversity or college · Public · Monterey
12.7 mi1,478 students
Monterey Peninsula CollegeCommunity college · Public · Monterey
13.5 mi5,588 students
Middlebury Institute of International Studies at MontereyUniversity or college · Private nonprofit · Monterey
13.8 mi334 students
Gavilan CollegeCommunity college · Public · Gilroy
21.2 mi3,730 students
Cabrillo CollegeCommunity college · Public · Aptos
26 mi7,207 students
Five Branches UniversityUniversity or college · For-profit · Santa Cruz
27.1 mi262 students

Ask around

Students, parents, alumni and the neighbors next door.

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Start the conversation

Sources: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (institution and field-of-study files) and IPEDS (Scorecard 06/10/2026 · IPEDS 2024 · fall 2023); town figures from the Census American Community Survey and NOAA climate normals. Graduation rates count first-time, full-time students; earnings and debt are for students who received federal aid. Distances are straight-line. Colleges are described, not graded (how TownRatings describes colleges). Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.