Which Cal State San Marcos major has the lowest debt?

Romance Languages graduates leave with a median of $7,500 in federal loans, the lowest among 33 Cal State San Marcos bachelor's programs that report debt.

How much does Cal State San Marcos cost?

In-state tuition and fees are $8,082 a year, and $20,682 for out-of-state students. After grants and scholarships, the average net price is $10,229 a year.

How many Cal State San Marcos programs report graduate pay?

35 bachelor's programs at Cal State San Marcos report first-year pay, and 33 of them also report federal debt.

Cal State San Marcos Programs, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

California State University-San Marcos
Public university
San Marcos, CA
14,877 undergraduates

College Scorecard June 2026 release

The short answer

35 Cal State San Marcos bachelor's programs report what graduates earn. Nursing pays the most in the first year ($103,799), and History the least ($22,407). The median program pays $38,527.

In-state tuition and fees$8,082Per year. Out-of-state $20,682

Average net price after aid$10,229Per year

Graduation rate55%Within 6 years

Admission rate95%Of applicants

All 35 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	NursingAbout 278 graduates a year	$103,799	$105,792	$25,047	13th of 35
2	AccountingGraduates a year not reported	$63,366	$81,423	$22,500	13th of 23
3	Computer Systems AnalysisGraduates a year not reported	$61,054	Not reported	Not reported	1st of 1
4	Computer ScienceAbout 152 graduates a year	$60,645	$110,266	$12,850	26th of 39
5	Biochemistry and Molecular BiologyAbout 36 graduates a year	$57,682	Not reported	$16,666	1st of 19
6	PhysicsAbout 16 graduates a year	$56,018	$80,480	$19,069	4th of 11
7	International BusinessGraduates a year not reported	$55,455	Not reported	$15,965	3rd of 8
8	Management Information SystemsGraduates a year not reported	$55,102	Not reported	$16,170	5th of 6
9	FinanceGraduates a year not reported	$54,408	$87,253	$15,125	7th of 12
10	Cell Biology and AnatomyGraduates a year not reported	$49,734	$72,329	$19,375	1st of 10
11	BiotechnologyAbout 21 graduates a year	$49,615	$75,425	$18,500	3rd of 4
12	Business AdministrationAbout 471 graduates a year	$49,543	$74,005	$19,015	28th of 57
13	ChemistryAbout 11 graduates a year	$49,382	Not reported	Not reported	4th of 23
14	BusinessGraduates a year not reported	$46,958	$68,281	$22,875	3rd of 6
15	MarketingGraduates a year not reported	$43,134	$75,915	$19,032	8th of 13
16	Ecology and EvolutionGraduates a year not reported	$40,875	Not reported	$23,000	1st of 10
17	EconomicsAbout 52 graduates a year	$40,155	$77,155	$17,500	27th of 35
18	BiologyAbout 188 graduates a year	$38,527	$76,916	$24,174	4th of 47
19	Social SciencesAbout 39 graduates a year	$37,446	$63,814	$18,719	3rd of 10
20	Environmental Science and ConservationAbout 50 graduates a year	$37,364	Not reported	$12,424	10th of 24
21	Physiology and PathologyGraduates a year not reported	$36,889	Not reported	$16,419	2nd of 6
22	CommunicationsAbout 201 graduates a year	$36,310	$55,408	$16,500	21st of 39
23	Political ScienceAbout 63 graduates a year	$35,297	$53,339	$19,485	22nd of 44
24	CriminologyAbout 234 graduates a year	$34,694	$54,589	$14,810	2nd of 7
25	SociologyAbout 295 graduates a year	$34,541	$51,480	$15,000	22nd of 42
26	PsychologyAbout 315 graduates a year	$31,355	$54,559	$18,312	21st of 54
27	Human Development and Family StudiesAbout 163 graduates a year	$31,184	$49,769	$17,193	9th of 14
28	EnglishAbout 74 graduates a year	$29,638	$51,512	$15,500	9th of 35
29	Liberal Arts and General StudiesAbout 155 graduates a year	$29,341	$55,289	$15,125	20th of 34
30	Romance LanguagesAbout 23 graduates a year	$29,329	$47,058	$7,500	12th of 23
31	Teacher EducationAbout 117 graduates a year	$29,055	Not reported	$15,150	13th of 18
32	Visual and Performing ArtsAbout 76 graduates a year	$27,741	$41,204	$18,750	2nd of 3
33	Kinesiology and Exercise ScienceAbout 164 graduates a year	$26,203	$63,880	$18,257	21st of 31
34	Communication Sciences and DisordersAbout 58 graduates a year	$22,567	Not reported	$15,998	9th of 13
35	HistoryAbout 73 graduates a year	$22,407	$43,090	$16,923	26th of 30

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.

Some nursing bachelor's programs are for nurses who are already licensed and working (RN-to-BSN). College Scorecard counts them with programs for new students, and their graduates' pay reflects years of nursing experience, so high pay at a program here may not mean higher starting pay for a new nurse.

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

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Nursing$103,799
Accounting$63,366
Computer Systems Analysis$61,054
Computer Science$60,645
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology$57,682

Lowest median debt

Romance Languages$7,500
Environmental Science and Conservation$12,424
Computer Science$12,850
Criminology$14,810
Sociology$15,000

Largest programs

Business AdministrationAbout 471 graduates a year
PsychologyAbout 315 graduates a year
SociologyAbout 295 graduates a year
NursingAbout 278 graduates a year
CriminologyAbout 234 graduates a year

Common questions

Nursing graduates earn a median of $103,799 in their first year, the most of 35 Cal State San Marcos 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