Chico State Design and Applied Arts (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Design and Applied Arts
- Public university
- Chico, CA
- About 85 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Chico State design and applied arts graduates earn less than graduates of most design and applied arts programs nationally, $27,573 in their first year. Where this program stands out is debt. The typical graduate leaves with $19,047 in federal loans, less than at 91% of design and applied arts programs in the country. Debt is low, but pay is also below the California median of $32,070.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The California and national columns are the medians across all design and applied arts bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Chico State graduates earn less than the national figure and about $13,128 less than the California median. Several California programs with higher debt show higher pay by the five-year mark.
Debt and first-year pay at every California design and applied arts 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 70% between the first and fifth year.
Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $202 a month, or 8.8% 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.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
94% of graduates (77 of 82) were working in California one year after graduating. Prices in the Chico area are about 1% above the national average, so a $27,573 salary here buys what about $27,247 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 design and applied arts, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Graphic Designers
$75,130Median pay in California. 27,390 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 2% from 2025 to 2035, with about 16,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Web and Digital Interface Designers
$136,110Median pay in California. 27,090 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 8,300 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Interior Designers
$80,230Median pay in California. 8,500 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 3% from 2025 to 2035, with about 7,700 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Art Directors
$137,780Median pay in California. 12,430 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 12,200 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.
About Chico State
Design and Applied Arts ranks 41st of 51 bachelor's programs at Chico State by first-year earnings. The top three are Nursing ($113,181), Construction Management ($89,075), and Construction Engineering Technology ($88,648).
Common questions
The median graduate earns $27,573 one year after graduating and $46,813 five years after. The median across design and applied arts bachelor's programs in California is $32,070.
The median federal loan balance is $19,047, which ranks 9th lowest of 26 design and applied arts bachelor's programs in California. That works out to about $202 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 69% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 77%. If the highest possible early salary is the main goal, several California programs report higher pay, usually with more debt.
Most do. 94% (77 of 82) 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 design and applied arts 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