Which Cal Poly SLO major has the lowest debt?

Agricultural Business graduates leave with a median of $14,500 in federal loans, the lowest among 47 Cal Poly SLO bachelor's programs that report debt.

How much does Cal Poly SLO cost?

In-state tuition and fees are $13,596 a year, and $34,665 for out-of-state students. After grants and scholarships, the average net price is $16,665 a year.

How many Cal Poly SLO programs report graduate pay?

50 bachelor's programs at Cal Poly SLO report first-year pay, and 47 of them also report federal debt.

Cal Poly SLO Programs, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo
Public university
San Luis Obispo, CA
21,996 undergraduates

College Scorecard June 2026 release

The short answer

50 Cal Poly SLO bachelor's programs report what graduates earn. Computer Engineering pays the most in the first year ($111,560), and Teacher Education the least ($22,293). The median program pays $55,450.

In-state tuition and fees$13,596Per year. Out-of-state $34,665

Average net price after aid$16,665Per year

Graduation rate86%Within 6 years

Admission rate31%Of applicants

All 50 bachelor's programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. "Rank in California" compares first-year pay with the same field's bachelor's programs across California. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	Program	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Rank in California
1	Computer EngineeringAbout 129 graduates a year	$111,560	$146,406	$20,556	1st of 19
2	Computer ScienceAbout 202 graduates a year	$111,141	Not reported	$19,298	8th of 39
3	Construction ManagementAbout 150 graduates a year	$92,785	Not reported	$18,955	2nd of 3
4	Electrical EngineeringAbout 159 graduates a year	$90,576	$116,692	$24,449	3rd of 21
5	Industrial EngineeringAbout 76 graduates a year	$87,226	$121,125	$19,691	2nd of 4
6	Aerospace EngineeringAbout 110 graduates a year	$85,509	$112,671	$22,500	1st of 9
7	Mechanical EngineeringAbout 278 graduates a year	$83,011	$110,675	$20,500	4th of 26
8	Environmental EngineeringAbout 39 graduates a year	$82,197	$86,311	$20,500	1st of 5
9	Biomedical EngineeringAbout 71 graduates a year	$81,186	$111,260	$20,500	1st of 15
10	Civil EngineeringAbout 148 graduates a year	$80,673	$101,618	$20,424	4th of 20
11	Architectural EngineeringAbout 27 graduates a year	$80,481	$97,098	$25,116	1st of 1
12	Industrial TechnologyAbout 36 graduates a year	$78,938	Not reported	$18,250	1st of 3
13	Materials EngineeringAbout 46 graduates a year	$74,496	$107,726	$17,000	1st of 3
14	Agricultural MechanizationAbout 31 graduates a year	$73,053	Not reported	Not reported	1st of 1
15	Agricultural EngineeringAbout 37 graduates a year	$72,713	$89,957	$16,420	1st of 1
16	Business AdministrationAbout 689 graduates a year	$71,876	$102,603	$17,000	3rd of 57
17	EconomicsAbout 59 graduates a year	$67,501	$89,394	$18,500	6th of 35
18	AgricultureAbout 31 graduates a year	$64,786	$68,350	$21,903	1st of 2
19	Plant ScienceAbout 55 graduates a year	$63,129	$74,094	$16,666	1st of 6
20	CommunicationsAbout 71 graduates a year	$62,183	$67,009	$14,928	1st of 39
21	ArchitectureGraduates a year not reported	$60,634	$77,718	$27,500	1st of 5
22	Architectural TechnologyAbout 126 graduates a year	$58,653	Not reported	$23,500	1st of 3
23	Landscape ArchitectureAbout 48 graduates a year	$58,331	$61,334	$22,433	1st of 3
24	Biochemistry and Molecular BiologyAbout 37 graduates a year	$57,538	$72,627	$17,500	2nd of 19
25	MicrobiologyAbout 24 graduates a year	$55,807	Not reported	$22,138	2nd of 13
26	ForestryAbout 46 graduates a year	$55,092	$73,077	$17,000	1st of 2
27	Agricultural Public ServicesAbout 29 graduates a year	$54,583	Not reported	Not reported	1st of 1
28	MathematicsAbout 51 graduates a year	$53,136	$78,202	$16,718	1st of 23
29	Agricultural BusinessAbout 126 graduates a year	$52,778	$93,186	$14,500	1st of 4
30	Food ScienceAbout 81 graduates a year	$52,240	$82,237	$20,654	2nd of 5
31	Graphic CommunicationsAbout 75 graduates a year	$49,029	$87,135	$17,961	2nd of 8
32	JournalismAbout 51 graduates a year	$48,637	$67,804	$19,333	1st of 14
33	Geology and Earth ScienceAbout 38 graduates a year	$48,489	Not reported	$15,000	2nd of 10
34	Urban and Regional PlanningAbout 36 graduates a year	$47,832	Not reported	$18,167	1st of 2
35	Parks and RecreationAbout 102 graduates a year	$39,157	Not reported	$16,369	3rd of 9
36	Environmental Management and PolicyAbout 129 graduates a year	$37,126	$69,368	$20,000	1st of 2
37	Political ScienceAbout 85 graduates a year	$37,003	$90,264	$17,665	16th of 44
38	Fine and Studio ArtsAbout 58 graduates a year	$36,006	$87,876	$19,198	2nd of 29
39	BiologyAbout 163 graduates a year	$35,638	$73,422	$22,949	14th of 47
40	Liberal Arts and General StudiesAbout 116 graduates a year	$35,056	$64,390	$17,500	8th of 34
41	EnglishAbout 49 graduates a year	$34,718	$64,041	$23,956	4th of 35
42	Animal ScienceAbout 159 graduates a year	$33,879	$62,117	$20,500	3rd of 5
43	HistoryAbout 55 graduates a year	$31,540	$58,207	$17,627	9th of 30
44	Kinesiology and Exercise ScienceAbout 75 graduates a year	$30,472	Not reported	$16,666	8th of 31
45	SociologyAbout 66 graduates a year	$30,401	$75,585	$16,750	34th of 42
46	Other Social SciencesAbout 35 graduates a year	$28,931	$45,522	$17,000	4th of 4
47	Marine ScienceAbout 26 graduates a year	$27,337	Not reported	Not reported	1st of 2
48	PsychologyAbout 135 graduates a year	$23,744	$65,762	$20,000	51st of 54
49	Nutrition ScienceAbout 74 graduates a year	$22,675	Not reported	$17,620	9th of 9
50	Teacher EducationAbout 52 graduates a year	$22,293	$54,410	$18,090	18th of 18

Program names link to the program's own page, and California ranks link to the full ranking for the field. A program gets its own page when it reports both pay and debt and at least five California programs in the field do too.

3 more bachelor's programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Computer Engineering$111,560
Computer Science$111,141
Construction Management$92,785
Electrical Engineering$90,576
Industrial Engineering$87,226

Lowest median debt

Agricultural Business$14,500
Communications$14,928
Geology and Earth Science$15,000
Parks and Recreation$16,369
Agricultural Engineering$16,420

Largest programs

Business AdministrationAbout 689 graduates a year
Mechanical EngineeringAbout 278 graduates a year
Computer ScienceAbout 202 graduates a year
BiologyAbout 163 graduates a year
Electrical EngineeringAbout 159 graduates a year

Common questions

Computer Engineering graduates earn a median of $111,560 in their first year, the most of 50 Cal Poly SLO bachelor's programs that report pay.

About this data

Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
Tuition, net price, graduation rate, and admission rate are for the whole school, not one program.
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 rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago.

Sources

U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
NCES, IPEDS tuition and fees, 2023-24, for in-district tuition labels