Central Arizona College (CAC)

Overview of Central Arizona College (CAC)

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Central Arizona College (CAC) students do more than attend courses on campus, however. There are a myriad of clubs and organizations that offer students the opportunity to find like-minded friends. There are recognized clubs that develop student interest in topics such as crochet, Christianity, cultural issues, and leadership, among other options.

Despite being a two-year college with a mid-sized student body, CAC offers good choices for its athletes. There are men's teams in baseball, cross country, rodeo, and track & field. Women have a few more options including basketball, softball, and volleyball.

Students also enjoy on campus dining options, something that is often not part of community college life. There's the Grille, The Peak, and a coffee shop. Students are thus able to grab a meal before heading back home or to their work.

Top Rankings For Central Arizona College

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CAC Acceptance Rate and Admissions

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CAC Tuition Cost & Financial Aid

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Since Central Arizona College is a publicly funded institution the costs are rather manageable. Arizona residents are privy to lower pricing relative to non-residents. The pricing is further helped by the fact that most two-year community colleges, such as Central AZ, have very low tuition rates. In fact, for Arizona residents, a full year of tuition, books, and academic fees adds up to a mere $3,000. Non-residents pay a bit more, with gross costs of $4,500.

Since students need to cover room, board, and other costs - researchers did not overlook those expenses. When all tallied, the gross costs of a year at Central AZ came to a mere $13,000. Non-residents see their gross costs rise to only $15,000. Considering that many public four-year universities charge as much for only tuition, this is a terrific value. Yet the costs can go even lower once the financial aid office works their magic.

Once the financial aid office applies grants and scholarships to the gross costs of a year at Central Arizona, the net price comes out significantly lower. The average net price for a year at the school is only $7,000. Lower income students see their net price go to under $6,000, while top-earning households pay only around $9,500.

Sticker Price

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Popular Academic Programs at CAC

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Central Arizona College has a student body that is eager to learn. They flock to Coolidge, AZ to get their academic careers started with associate degrees or certificates that help them enter their career field. To verify Central's academic strengths, researchers examined their educational statistics including the retention rate, graduation rate, and other metrics.

The retention rate is a metric researchers rely on to measure student satisfaction with the school's attributes. It is derived from the number of first-time, full-time students who return to a school for a second year. Since Central reports a retention rate of 57%, meaning that most students return to the school for their second year. Despite the somewhat low numbers, researchers saw that the school compares favorably to many of the nation's top institutions of higher learning.

The graduation rate, meanwhile, falls to 18%. Though not too impressive, most community colleges have similar, or even smaller, graduation rates. However, Central Arizona College also reports that 28% of students enroll in other institutions. Such transfer students are known to be highly motivated and are likely to graduate from their second school. Thus, Central Arizona can be said to prepare up to 46% of its students for academic success. For a two-year institution, these numbers are a solid indication that those who are determined to succeed should be able to do so here.

Student Population Total

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Outcome & Salary

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Students at Central Arizona College are eager to learn what sorts of jobs they can get with their degree, as well as their future salaries. While researchers are quick to point out that there are no guarantees when it comes to higher education, they did learn how former graduates have fared in the marketplace.

Thus, of respondents to a recent graduate survey, the registered nursing students fared the best with a reported median income of $74,000. Meanwhile, the liberal arts and humanities students responded with a median entry salary of $38,000. The liberal arts students also reported the lowest overall debt with a median debt load of only $8,000.

Photos & Videos

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