San Diego State Ethnic, Cultural, and Gender Studies (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Ethnic, Cultural Minority, Gender, and Group Studies
- Public university
- San Diego, CA
- About 44 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
San Diego State ethnic, cultural, and gender studies graduates earn about what ethnic, cultural, and gender studies graduates earn nationally, $29,267 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $20,499 in federal loans, close to the national median of $22,938. Several 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 ethnic, cultural, and gender studies bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, San Diego State graduates earn less than the national figure and about $9,629 less than the California median.
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 52% 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 $217 a month, or 8.9% 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
92% of graduates (35 of 38) were working in California one year after graduating. Prices in the San Diego area are about 12% above the national average, so a $29,267 salary here buys what about $26,158 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 San Diego State
Ethnic, Cultural, and Gender Studies ranks 44th of 59 bachelor's programs at San Diego State by first-year earnings. The top three are Nursing ($100,221), Construction Engineering Technology ($81,608), and Computer Engineering ($76,812).
Other ethnic, cultural, and gender studies bachelor's programs near San Diego
Common questions
The median graduate earns $29,267 one year after graduating and $44,417 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 $20,499, which ranks 16th lowest of 20 ethnic, cultural, and gender studies bachelor's programs in California. That works out to about $217 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 70% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 69%. Compare the cost with other California programs before deciding.
Most do. 92% (35 of 38) 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