CSUN Ethnic, Cultural, and Gender Studies (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Ethnic, Cultural Minority, Gender, and Group Studies
- Public university
- Northridge, CA
- About 188 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
CSUN ethnic, cultural, and gender studies graduates earn less than graduates of most ethnic, cultural, and gender studies programs nationally, $26,767 in their first year. Where this program stands out is debt. The typical graduate leaves with $15,000 in federal loans, less than at 86% of ethnic, cultural, and gender studies programs in the country. Debt is low, but pay is also below the California median of $30,984.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The California and national columns are the medians across all ethnic, cultural, and gender studies bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, CSUN graduates earn less than the national figure and about $5,807 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 ethnic, cultural, and gender 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 80% 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 $2,474 less in their first year than other graduates. Students who expect to rely on grants should weigh this gap.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $159 a month, or 7.1% 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.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
94% of graduates (220 of 235) were working in California one year after graduating. Prices in the Los Angeles area are about 14% above the national average, so a $26,767 salary here buys what about $23,570 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 ethnic, cultural, and gender studies, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Interpreters and Translators
$70,770Median pay in California. 5,560 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 2% from 2025 to 2035, with about 6,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
About CSUN
Ethnic, Cultural, and Gender Studies ranks 48th of 57 bachelor's programs at CSUN by first-year earnings. The top three are Nursing ($106,780), Diagnostic and Treatment Professions ($100,724), and Construction Engineering Technology ($79,352).
Other ethnic, cultural, and gender studies bachelor's programs near Northridge
Common questions
The median graduate earns $26,767 one year after graduating and $48,239 five years after. The median across ethnic, cultural, and gender studies bachelor's programs in California is $30,984.
The median federal loan balance is $15,000, which ranks 5th lowest of 20 ethnic, cultural, and gender studies bachelor's programs in California. That works out to about $159 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 56% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 69%, and the share of borrowers in default two years into repayment is 10% or less. If the highest possible early salary is the main goal, several California programs report higher pay, usually with more debt.
Most do. 94% (220 of 235) 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 ethnic, cultural, and gender 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