Seattle Central College: A Parent's Guide to Admissions, Cost & Outcomes
Tacoma, Washington · Public · Unknown · CDS 2024-2025
Seattle Central College is a public university in Tacoma, Washington. The average family pays about $9,321 a year after financial aid, which matters more than the published sticker price. It is best known for Business Administration, Management and Operations, Health and Medical Administrative Services and Public Health, its largest undergraduate programs by number of graduates. Its most recent Clery Act report shows roughly 2.6 criminal offenses per 1,000 students.
Seattle Central College is a public institution located in Tacoma, Washington. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $9,321 per year, which is the figure most families actually pay rather than the published sticker price. For parents weighing whether Seattle Central College is realistic for their teenager, the most useful planning step is comparing your child's current GPA and most recent SAT or ACT against these admitted-student ranges — not the headline acceptance rate alone.
What GPA does my child need for Seattle Central College?
Successful applicants to Seattle Central College typically present unweighted GPAs at or near 4.0 with the most rigorous course load their school offers, including multiple AP, IB, or dual-enrollment courses. Parents tracking their child's GPA toward this tier of school can use Solyo's free calculator to see weighted, unweighted, and college-recalculated numbers side by side.
SAT and ACT scores Seattle Central College typically admits
Many applicants to schools in this tier submit test scores, though the policy varies by year — check the latest test-optional status before deciding.
How much does Seattle Central College actually cost?
Published tuition is $4,920 for in-state students and $11,030 for out-of-state, before grants and scholarships. After need-based and merit aid, the average family pays a net price of $9,321 per year — the number that actually matters for budgeting. Roughly 24% of students receive Pell Grants, a useful indicator of how much need-based aid the school distributes.
| Average net price (after aid) | $9,321 |
Application deadlines and early decision data for Seattle Central College
Most popular majors at Seattle Central College
The most popular undergraduate programs at Seattle Central College, measured by the number of students who actually graduate each year, are Business Administration, Management and Operations, Health and Medical Administrative Services and Public Health. Across all programs, Seattle Central College confers roughly 41 bachelor's degrees a year. Major popularity is a practical signal of where a school concentrates its teaching strength and where your child will find the deepest course offerings and peer community.
| Major | Graduates / year | Median earnings (5 yrs out) |
|---|---|---|
| Business Administration, Management and Operations | 15 | — |
| Health and Medical Administrative Services | 13 | — |
| Public Health | 13 | — |
Is Seattle Central College safe? Campus crime & safety
In its most recent Clery Act report (2024), Seattle Central College disclosed 12 total criminal offenses across its campus and surrounding public property, about 2.6 per 1,000 students. That figure includes 2 violent offenses and 1 reported sexual assaults or VAWA offenses. Per-1,000-student rates matter more than raw counts when comparing schools, because larger universities mechanically report more incidents. Under the federal Clery Act, every college that receives federal aid must publish these numbers annually.
Other colleges in Washington parents ask about
How parents track GPA toward selective schools like Seattle Central College
Solyo helps parents track grades pulled directly from school emails, calculate GPA the same way colleges like Seattle Central College recalculate it, and ask an AI college counselor specific questions about their teen's odds. The platform is built for parents — not students — and turns what's usually a fragmented planning process into a single dashboard.
Common questions parents ask about Seattle Central College
What GPA do I need for Seattle Central College?
Successful applicants to Seattle Central College typically present unweighted GPAs at or near 4.0 with the most rigorous course load their school offers, including multiple AP, IB, or dual-enrollment courses.
What SAT or ACT score does Seattle Central College typically admit?
Seattle Central College does not publish standardized test ranges in the most recent reporting cycle. Test-optional policies have made scores less universally required, but submitting strong scores still helps when available.
How much does Seattle Central College actually cost after financial aid?
The average net price at Seattle Central College after grants and scholarships is $9,321 per year. That figure is more useful for budgeting than the published sticker price, because it reflects what families actually pay after aid is applied.
Is Seattle Central College realistic for my child?
Compare your teen's current unweighted GPA and most recent SAT or ACT against the ranges above. If both numbers fall inside the school's middle-50, Seattle Central College is a target school. If both fall below the 25th-percentile mark, treat it as a reach and balance the application list accordingly.
Is Seattle Central College a public or private school, and where is it located?
Seattle Central College is a public institution located in Tacoma, Washington.
What are the most popular majors at Seattle Central College?
The largest undergraduate majors at Seattle Central College by annual graduates are Business Administration, Management and Operations, Health and Medical Administrative Services and Public Health. The school awards about 41 bachelor's degrees a year in total. These figures come from federal IPEDS completion data.
Is Seattle Central College safe? What is its campus crime rate?
Seattle Central College reported 12 total criminal offenses in its most recent Clery Act disclosure (2024), roughly 2.6 per 1,000 students. Compare the per-1,000 rate rather than the raw total, since larger schools report more incidents.
Data sourced from the 2024-2025 Common Data Set submitted by Seattle Central College, the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard and IPEDS, and Clery Act campus safety disclosures. Solyo extracts admissions data from official Common Data Set publications and refreshes it annually.