Which Cal Poly Humboldt major has the lowest debt?

History graduates leave with a median of $15,000 in federal loans, the lowest among 28 Cal Poly Humboldt bachelor's programs that report debt.

How much does Cal Poly Humboldt cost?

In-state tuition and fees are $8,250 a year, and $20,850 for out-of-state students. After grants and scholarships, the average net price is $13,171 a year.

How many Cal Poly Humboldt programs report graduate pay?

32 bachelor's programs at Cal Poly Humboldt report first-year pay, and 28 of them also report federal debt.

Cal Poly Humboldt Programs, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

California State Polytechnic University-Humboldt
Public university
Arcata, CA
5,612 undergraduates

College Scorecard June 2026 release

The short answer

32 Cal Poly Humboldt bachelor's programs report what graduates earn. Environmental Engineering pays the most in the first year ($55,589), and English the least ($13,896). The median program pays $29,774.

In-state tuition and fees$8,250Per year. Out-of-state $20,850

Average net price after aid$13,171Per year

Graduation rate49%Within 6 years

Admission rate98%Of applicants

All 32 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	Environmental EngineeringAbout 36 graduates a year	$55,589	$81,168	$24,350	4th of 5
2	ForestryAbout 44 graduates a year	$52,810	$63,673	$22,173	2nd of 2
3	Other Interdisciplinary StudiesAbout 32 graduates a year	$45,490	$45,421	$18,196	3rd of 8
4	Plant ScienceAbout 5 graduates a year	$44,038	$50,661	Not reported	4th of 6
5	Computer ScienceAbout 42 graduates a year	$37,153	Not reported	$17,750	38th of 39
6	Business AdministrationAbout 91 graduates a year	$36,586	$58,979	$16,000	56th of 57
7	Romance LanguagesAbout 4 graduates a year	$36,444	Not reported	$19,083	5th of 23
8	Political ScienceAbout 28 graduates a year	$36,079	$54,461	$19,159	20th of 44
9	Social WorkAbout 66 graduates a year	$35,693	$57,147	$23,286	13th of 16
10	Writing and RhetoricGraduates a year not reported	$34,309	$52,626	$16,500	2nd of 10
11	ChemistryAbout 10 graduates a year	$33,972	Not reported	$24,000	22nd of 23
12	BiologyAbout 85 graduates a year	$32,760	$50,531	$20,200	28th of 47
13	Ethnic, Cultural, and Gender StudiesAbout 24 graduates a year	$30,844	Not reported	$15,533	12th of 21
14	BotanyAbout 21 graduates a year	$30,713	$52,224	Not reported	1st of 1
15	Environmental Science and ConservationAbout 120 graduates a year	$29,917	$50,871	$15,500	21st of 24
16	Fisheries ScienceAbout 14 graduates a year	$29,862	$46,874	Not reported	1st of 1
17	JournalismAbout 16 graduates a year	$29,686	$36,866	$22,300	12th of 14
18	Geology and Earth ScienceAbout 27 graduates a year	$29,476	$48,634	$20,526	9th of 10
19	CriminologyAbout 26 graduates a year	$29,123	$48,299	$16,849	7th of 7
20	ZoologyAbout 38 graduates a year	$28,565	$37,169	$20,690	3rd of 3
21	PsychologyAbout 153 graduates a year	$28,046	$43,990	$16,200	40th of 54
22	GeographyAbout 14 graduates a year	$27,355	$50,093	$17,412	10th of 13
23	Liberal Arts and General StudiesAbout 29 graduates a year	$27,303	$38,082	$16,000	23rd of 34
24	Wildlife ScienceAbout 98 graduates a year	$26,325	$41,148	$22,500	2nd of 2
25	Parks and RecreationAbout 11 graduates a year	$26,224	Not reported	Not reported	9th of 9
26	Kinesiology and Exercise ScienceAbout 58 graduates a year	$24,660	$49,190	$20,113	26th of 31
27	SociologyAbout 16 graduates a year	$24,501	$51,759	$16,458	42nd of 42
28	Fine and Studio ArtsAbout 50 graduates a year	$21,052	$35,523	$17,500	22nd of 29
29	HistoryAbout 21 graduates a year	$20,972	$42,640	$15,000	29th of 30
30	AnthropologyAbout 23 graduates a year	$19,868	$46,504	$18,150	22nd of 22
31	Film and PhotographyAbout 20 graduates a year	$19,107	Not reported	$23,162	23rd of 25
32	EnglishAbout 40 graduates a year	$13,896	$38,092	$17,000	35th of 35

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.

One more bachelor's program reports debt but not pay, so it isn't listed.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Environmental Engineering$55,589
Forestry$52,810
Other Interdisciplinary Studies$45,490
Plant Science$44,038
Computer Science$37,153

Lowest median debt

History$15,000
Environmental Science and Conservation$15,500
Ethnic, Cultural, and Gender Studies$15,533
Business Administration$16,000
Liberal Arts and General Studies$16,000

Largest programs

PsychologyAbout 153 graduates a year
Environmental Science and ConservationAbout 120 graduates a year
Wildlife ScienceAbout 98 graduates a year
Business AdministrationAbout 91 graduates a year
BiologyAbout 85 graduates a year

Common questions

Environmental Engineering graduates earn a median of $55,589 in their first year, the most of 32 Cal Poly Humboldt 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