Cal State Fullerton Area Studies (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Area Studies
- Public university
- Fullerton, CA
- About 27 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Cal State Fullerton area studies graduates earn less than graduates of most area studies programs nationally, $29,316 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $17,500 in federal loans, close to the national median of $20,925. Two other 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 area studies bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Cal State Fullerton graduates earn less than the national figure and about $1,767 less than the California median.
Debt and first-year pay at every California area studies 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 90% 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 $186 a month, or 7.6% 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 (79 of 84) were working in California one year after graduating. Prices in the Los Angeles area are about 14% above the national average, so a $29,316 salary here buys what about $25,814 buys in a typical US city.
About Cal State Fullerton
Area Studies ranks 27th of 44 bachelor's programs at Cal State Fullerton by first-year earnings. The top three are Nursing ($103,028), Civil Engineering ($72,606), and Mechanical Engineering ($65,252).
Other area studies bachelor's programs near Fullerton
Common questions
The median graduate earns $29,316 one year after graduating and $55,602 five years after. The median across area studies bachelor's programs in California is $27,692.
The median federal loan balance is $17,500, which ranks 5th lowest of 6 area studies bachelor's programs in California. That works out to about $186 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 60% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 61%, and the share of borrowers in default two years into repayment is 20% or less.
Most do. 94% (79 of 84) 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 area studies 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