College Factual  by our College Data Analytics Team
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Palomar College Comprehensive Profile

28% Student Loan Default Rate

Get the facts about Palomar College. Learn how it ranks, what majors it offers, how diverse it is, and much more.

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* Rankings

Where Does Palomar College Rank?

2026 Rankings

College Factual recognizes the best colleges and universities in its annual rankings. These rankings include categories for best overall colleges, best colleges for each major, best value schools, and much more.

Overall Ranking

Palomar College was not ranked in College Factual’s 2026 Best Overall Colleges report. This could be for a number of reasons, including lack of data.

See all of the rankings for Palomar College.

Is It Hard to Get Into Palomar College?

Getting Accepted

Learn more about Palomar College admissions.

Teaching Staff at Palomar College

25 to 1 Student to Faculty
34% Full Time Teachers

Class Sizes

At Palomar College, the student to faculty ratio is 25 to 1. Compared to the national average of 15 to 1, this is somewhat high. This could mean that class sizes may be larger than they are at other colleges or universities or that professors may be required to teach more classes.

Full-Time Faculty Share

In addition to the student to faculty ratio, some people look at what percentage of faculty members are full-time as a sign of how much time professors will be able to spend with their students. This is because part-time teachers may not be on campus as much as their full-time counterparts.

The full-time faculty percentage at Palomar College is 34%. This is lower than the national average of 47%.

Full-Time Faculty Percent  34 out of 100
0
100

Academic Performance at Palomar College

71% Freshmen Retention
34% On-Time Graduation Rate

First-Year Student Retention

The freshmen retention rate tells us what percentage of first-year, full-time students choose to continue on to their sophomore year at a particular school. The rate at Palomar College is 71%, which is about average when compared to the national rate of 68%.

Freshmen Retention Rate  71 out of 100
0
100

Graduation Rate

The on-time graduation rate is the percent of first-time, full-time students who get their bachelor’s degree within four years. At Palomar College this rate is 34%, which is about average when compared to the national rate of 33.3%.

On-Time Graduation Rate  34 out of 100
0
100

Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at Palomar College.

Diversity Profile of Palomar College

16,167 Undergraduate Students
66.6% Racial-Ethnic Minorities*
46.3% Percent Women

The current enrollment includes 16,167 undergraduates at Palomar College.

Get more detailed information on the diversity at Palomar College.

How Much Does Palomar College Cost?

$16,772 Net Price
1% Take Out Loans
$26,744 Total Student Loans

The typical net cost at Palomar College is $16,772. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group. See the table below for the net price for different income groups.### Net Price by Income Group for Palomar College

$0-30 K $30K-48K $48-75 $75-110K $110K +
$4,065 $4,554 $7,762 $10,075 $11,879

The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid. Note that the net price is typically less than the published price for a school. For more information on the sticker price of Palomar College, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.

Student Loan Debt

Almost 66% of college students who graduated with the class of 2018 took out student loans, but that percentage varies from school to school. At Palomar College, approximately 1% of students took out student loans averaging $6,686 a year. That adds up to $26,744 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate is 27.6%. This is significantly higher than the national default rate of 10.1%, which means you could have trouble paying back your student loans if you take any out. Get more details about paying for Palomar College.

What Do Palomar College Alumni Earn?

$42,300 Avg Salary of Grads
Low Earnings Boost

Although some majors pay more than others, students who graduate from Palomar College with a bachelor’s degree go on to jobs where they make an average salary of $42,300 in their early years. Unfortunately, this is 14% less than the average college graduate’s salary of $49,219 per year. However, graduates in your major field may make more.

See which majors at Palomar College make the most money.

Location of Palomar College

California State
16,167 Undergraduate Students
Suburb Campus Setting

Palomar College is a public institution situated in San Marcos, California. Palomar College is located in a safe and convenient suburb. Get more details about the location of Palomar College.

Location of Palomar College

Get in touch with Palomar College are listed below.

Contact Details
Address: 1140 W. Mission Road, San Marcos, CA 92069-1487
Phone: 7607441150
Website: www2.palomar.edu/

Palomar College Majors

33 Majors With Completions
9,190 Undergraduate Degrees

In the most recent reporting year, students from 33 majors graduated from Palomar College. The following table lists the most popular undergraduate majors along with the average salary graduates from those majors make.

Most Popular Majors Completions Average Salary of Graduates
Multi-Disciplinary Studies 4,595 NA
Liberal Arts General Studies 1,323 NA
Business Administration & Management 750 NA
Biological & Physical Science 290 NA
General Social Sciences 240 NA
Allied Health Professions 232 NA
Fire Protection 168 NA
Child Development & Family Studies 106 NA
General Psychology 102 NA
Mathematics 77 NA

Learn more about the majors offered at Palomar College along with which ones have the highest average starting salaries.

Distance Learning at Palomar College

74% Take At Least One Class Online
32% Take All Classes Online

Online learning is becoming popular at even the oldest colleges and universities in the United States. Not only are online classes great for returning adults with busy schedules, they are also frequented by a growing number of traditional students.

11,913 students took at least one online class at Palomar College.

Learn more about online learning at Palomar College.

Comparable CollegesInterested in comparing Palomar College? Compare them side by side using College Combat, our free interactive tool that lets you compare colleges on the features that matter most to you.

Data Sources and References

Footnotes

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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