by our College Data Analytics TeamRio Salado College is a public institution in Tempe, Arizona enrolling 11,668 undergraduates. It has an on-time graduation rate of 9%, below the national average of 33%. College Factual ranks it #1,508 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in its 2027 Best Colleges ranking (top 29%), and its Value for Your Money analysis rates it a Fair Price.
Source: IPEDS 2025; College Scorecard July 2026; College Factual rankings 2027. Data as of: July 2026.
Rio Salado College ranks #1,508 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges ranking, placing it in the top 29%.
In its yearly rankings, College Factual analyzes over 2,000 colleges and universities to determine which ones are the best in a variety of categories, such as overall value, quality, diversity, which schools are the best for each major, and much more.
Rio Salado College was awarded 180 badges in the 2027 rankings.
According to College Factual’s 2027 analysis, Rio Salado College is ranked #1,508 out of 5,159 schools in the nation that were analyzed for overall quality.
Rio Salado College is also ranked #16 on the Best Colleges in Arizona list.
See all of the rankings for Rio Salado College.
Learn more about Rio Salado College admissions.
At Rio Salado College, the student to faculty ratio is 31 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.
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 Rio Salado College is 100%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.
When we say that a student has graduated on time, we mean that they have finished their bachelor’s degree within four years. The on-time graduation rate at Rio Salado College is 9%. That’s lower than the national rate of 33.3%.
Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at Rio Salado College.
During the most recent academic year, there were 11,668 undergraduates at Rio Salado College.
Get more detailed information on the diversity at Rio Salado College.
The overall average net price of Rio Salado College is $17,140. 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.
| $0-30 K | $30K-48K | $48-75 | $75-110K | $110K + |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $6,800 | $10,182 | $9,356 | $10,871 | $13,425 |
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 Rio Salado College, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.
While almost two-thirds of students nationwide take out loans to pay for college, the percentage may be quite different for the school you plan on attending. At Rio Salado College, approximately 4% of students took out student loans averaging $4,068 a year. That adds up to $16,272 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate is 18.7%. 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 Rio Salado College.
Yearly salaries vary depending on what you major in, but on average, bachelor’s degree recipients from Rio Salado College make around $41,015 per year during the early years of their employment. This is about 17% less than the average pay for college graduates overall. However, graduates with your major may make more.
See which majors at Rio Salado College make the most money.
Rio Salado College is a public institution located in Tempe, Arizona. Tempe is a great location for students who prefer city over country life. Get more details about the location of Rio Salado College.
Contact details for Rio Salado College are given below.
| Contact Details | |
|---|---|
| Address: | 2323 W 14th St, Tempe, AZ 85281 |
| Phone: | 4805178000 |
| Website: | www.rio.maricopa.edu |
In the latest year of available data, students from 27 majors graduated from Rio Salado 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 | 4,169 | NA |
| Criminal Justice & Corrections | 1,473 | $42,986 |
| Business Support & Assistance | 777 | $42,922 |
| Liberal Arts General Studies | 305 | NA |
| Fine & Studio Arts | 268 | NA |
| Electronics Maintenance & Repair | 161 | NA |
| Mental & Social Health Services | 135 | NA |
| Entrepreneurial Studies | 116 | NA |
| Electrical & Power Installation | 109 | NA |
| Finance & Financial Management | 88 | NA |
8,699 students took at least one online class at Rio Salado College.
Online courses are a great option for busy, working students as well as for those who have scheduling conflicts and want to study on their own time. As time goes by, expect to see more and more online learning options become available.
Learn more about online learning at Rio Salado College.
Curious how schools stack up against Rio Salado College? Match them up using College Combat, a free interactive tool for comparing colleges on the features you care about.
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.