College Viability Inspection Report

Seattle Central College

Washington · Public

Seattle Central College is a public institution in Washington, enrolling 4,200 students as of 2024. It costs an average of $11,187 a year after grants and scholarships. Of the 4 inspection checks that could be evaluated, 3 are flagged: Revenue to Expenses, Enrollment, and Endowment. This report benchmarks Seattle Central College's most recent reported year (2024) against 2,000+ U.S. colleges across three dimensions: student outcomes, financial health, and value for money. All figures are drawn from federal IPEDS filings and are reported without editorial judgment.

Data note: The U.S. Department of Education's IPEDS database did not include every reported figure for Seattle Central College between 2020 and 2024. 5 indicators are not reported in IPEDS for any year 2020–2024 and 5 inspection flags could not be evaluated for lack of data — affected indicators are tagged below; missing years are shown as gaps in trend charts rather than estimated.

Seattle Central College Inspection Flags

Student Outcomes
Financial Health
Value for Your Money

Inspection flags are nine independent checks across student outcomes, financial health, and cost-to-value that surface areas of a college's reported numbers worth a closer look. A triggered flag means the college's data met a specific threshold that students and families may want to ask about — for example, graduation rates slipping below a level, or tuition rising while outcomes decline. A clear flag means the threshold was not met. Flags are signals for further conversation, not verdicts.

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College Viability
Data Summary

Seattle Central College — All Reported Indicators

Plain-text reference table of every metric and inspection flag for Seattle Central College. Values reflect IPEDS-reported figures; percent changes reflect endpoint-to-endpoint 2020 → 2024 comparison; percentiles reflect 2024 national rank against four-year public and private nonprofit institutions. Cells marked "not reported" indicate the indicator was not present in IPEDS for this institution.

Student Outcomes

Metric2024 Value5-Yr % ChangeNational Percentile
Four-Year Graduation Ratenot reportednot reportednot reported
Six-Year Graduation Ratenot reportednot reportednot reported
Full-Time Retention Ratenot reportednot reportednot reported
Pell Grant Six-Year Graduation Ratenot reportednot reportednot reported
Pell-to-Non-Pell Graduation Gapnot reportednot reportednot reported
Pell Share of Cohortnot reportednot reportednot reported

Financial Health

Metric2024 Value5-Yr % ChangeNational Percentile
Revenue-to-Expense Ratio0.93×-7.6%12th
Total FTE Enrollment4,200-23.7%75th
Endowment Value$10.2M+5.2%20th
Net Assets (End of Year)$43.5M-24.2%33rd

Value for Money

Metric2024 Value5-Yr % ChangeNational Percentile
Instructional Spending %38.7%-18.2%71st
Student Support Spending %13.9%+9.5%56th
Administrative Spending %13.7%+26.5%29th
Instruction+Support to Admin Ratio3.86×-30.7%74th
Average Net Price$11,187+115.5%17th
Net Price: $0-30K Income$7,883+90.8%18th
Net Price: $30K-48K Income$8,893+98.8%20th
Net Price: $48-75K Income$10,422+45.6%17th
Net Price: $75K-110K Income$11,555-9.9%10th
Net Price: $110K+ Income$16,989not reported16th

Inspection Flags

FlagSectionStatus
Retention Below 80%
Not enough reported data for this flag — only 0 of 5 years available.
Student OutcomesNot Evaluated
Four-Year Graduation Rate Below 50%
Not enough reported data for this flag — only 0 of 5 years available.
Student OutcomesNot Evaluated
Pell Gap Exceeds 10 Points
Not enough reported data for this flag — only 0 of 5 years had a Pell cohort of 50+ students.
Student OutcomesNot Evaluated
Revenue-to-Expense Below 1.0
Seattle Central College's revenue-to-expense ratio fell below 1.0 in 3 of 5 reported years — triggering the 3-of-5 threshold. 2024: 0.93×.
Financial HealthTriggered
Enrollment Declined 5% or More
Seattle Central College's total enrollment fell from 5,503 to 4,200 students between 2020 and 2024 (-23.7%) — a decline of 5% or more.
Financial HealthTriggered
Endowment Under $50M or Growth Under 15%
Seattle Central College's endowment is $10.2M — under $50 million — and grew +5.2% between 2020 and 2024, below the 15% growth threshold. Both conditions are met.
Financial HealthTriggered
High Cost, Low Completion
Either net price or 6-year graduation rate is not reported, so this flag could not be evaluated.
Value for MoneyNot Evaluated
Spending on Students Below the National Median
Seattle Central College spends $3.86 on instruction and student support per $1 of admin in 2024 — at or above the national median of $2.75 in every reported year.
Value for MoneyCleared
Rising Price, Falling Outcomes
Endpoint data missing for either net price or graduation rate — flag could not be evaluated.
Value for MoneyNot Evaluated