California Institute of the Arts Theatre (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft
- Private nonprofit school
- Valencia, CA
- About 36 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
California Institute of the Arts theatre graduates earn about what theatre graduates earn nationally, $22,673 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $27,000 in federal loans, close to the national median of $25,000. Several California programs report higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The California and national columns are the medians across all theatre bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, California Institute of the Arts graduates earn about the national figure and about the same as the California median.
Debt and first-year pay at every California theatre program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the California medians.
Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.
What graduates earn over time
Pay rises about 56% between the first and fifth year.
Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate.
Does family income change the outcome?
Graduates who received Pell Grants, which go to students from lower-income families, earned about the same in their first year as other graduates, but borrowed more: a median of $29,750 against $21,500.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $286 a month, or 15.1% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
The government publishes these as ranges to protect privacy. They were measured in 2018 to 2020, partly during the pandemic pause on federal loan payments, so the forbearance share may be higher than usual. Separately, 20 parents took out Parent PLUS loans for these students, with a median of $72,405.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
82% of graduates (40 of 49) were working in California one year after graduating. Prices in the Los Angeles area are about 14% above the national average, so a $22,673 salary here buys what about $19,965 buys in a typical US city.
Careers this field leads to
These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to theatre, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Producers and Directors
$129,790Median pay in California. 34,110 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 12,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.
Writers and Authors
$86,480Median pay in California. 8,390 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to stay about the same in number from 2025 to 2035, with about 11,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
About California Institute of the Arts
Theatre ranks 2nd of 3 bachelor's programs at California Institute of the Arts by first-year earnings. The others are Film and Photography ($28,247) and Music ($18,896).
Other theatre bachelor's programs near Valencia
Common questions
The median graduate earns $22,673 one year after graduating and $35,299 five years after. The median across theatre bachelor's programs in California is $20,538.
The median federal loan balance is $27,000, which ranks 20th lowest of 23 theatre bachelor's programs in California. That works out to about $286 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 119% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 115%. Compare the cost with other California programs before deciding.
Most do. 82% (40 of 49) were working in California one year after graduating.
About this data
- Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid (grants or loans).
- Earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school. Graduates who went straight to further study are not included.
- Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
- Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of California comparisons when their main campus is in another state.
- Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.
- School-level numbers like tuition, admission rate, and graduation rate are for the whole school, not the theatre program.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
- Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
- NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024