Cal State San Marcos Management Information Systems (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Management Information Systems and Services
- Public university
- San Marcos, CA
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Cal State San Marcos management information systems graduates earn about what management information systems graduates earn nationally, $55,102 in their first year. Where this program stands out is debt. The typical graduate leaves with $16,170 in federal loans, less than at 93% of management information systems programs in the country. Strong value, but not one of the highest-paying management information systems degrees in California.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The California and national columns are the medians across all management information systems bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Debt and first-year pay at every California management information systems 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.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $171 a month, or 3.7% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
100% of graduates (55 of 55) were working in California one year after graduating. Prices in the San Diego area are about 12% above the national average, so a $55,102 salary here buys what about $49,248 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 management information systems, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Computer and Information Systems Managers
$218,290Median pay in California. 94,720 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 16% from 2025 to 2035, with about 53,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.
Computer Programmers
$116,760Median pay in California. 11,340 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 4,400 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Database Architects
$170,160Median pay in California. 6,210 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 9% from 2025 to 2035, with about 3,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.
About Cal State San Marcos
Management Information Systems ranks 8th of 35 bachelor's programs at Cal State San Marcos by first-year earnings. The top three are Nursing ($103,799), Accounting ($63,366), and Computer Systems Analysis ($61,054).
Other management information systems bachelor's programs near San Marcos
Common questions
The median graduate earns $55,102 one year after graduating. The median across management information systems bachelor's programs in California is $63,760.
The median federal loan balance is $16,170, which ranks 2nd lowest of 6 management information systems bachelor's programs in California. That works out to about $171 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 29% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 40%. If the highest possible early salary is the main goal, several California programs report higher pay, usually with more debt.
Most do. 100% (55 of 55) 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 management information systems 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